May 14, 2008

Complete Game Notes in PDF Format

Games 48-50: May 15-17
NORTHERN ILLINOIS (24-23, 14-9) vs. WESTERN MICHIGAN (28-19-1, 11-10)
Thursday: 3 p.m. CT; Friday: 3 p.m. CT; Saturday: 1 p.m. CT Location: Ralph McKinzie Field, DeKalb, Ill. Live Coverage: Radio broadcast Friday and Saturday on WLBK (1360 AM) and NIUHuskies.com; CSTV GameTracker on NIUHuskies.com.
Series History: WMU leads 33-21-1; Ed Mathey vs. WMU: 8-8
Last Meeting: May 4-6, 2007 at DeKalb, NIU 4-1, NIU 6-5, NIU 10-6
Notes: Each of the last four series have been sweeps by the home team ... The Huskies have won four consecutive home series and seven straight home games against WMU ... NIU is 13-2 in its last 15 home games, dating back to 1999, against the Broncos ... WMU's last road series win came in 1999.

PROBABLE PITCHERS
Thursday: NIU RHP Trevor Feeney (5-4, 3.67) vs. WMU RHP Ethan Hollingsworth (5-5, 3.68)
Friday: NIU LHP Adam Holdenrid (5-3, 4.19) vs. WMU RHP Billy Morrison (5-1, 4.63)
Saturday: NIU LHP Matt Jernstad (2-4, 5.77) vs. WMU RHP Brian Stroud (6-0, 4.27)

SHORT HOPS
--> Northern Illinois enters the weekend in 2nd place in the MAC West and is one of four teams to have already clinched a berth in the MAC Tournament and would be the fourth seed at the present time. The Huskies can still claim the West Division title if they are able to win two more games than Eastern Michigan does in its series at Central Michigan. NIU's highest MAC regular season finish was fourth in 1977 and its best finish in divisional play was a tie for second in the West during the 2004 season.
--> Eight Huskie seniors will be honored prior to Saturday's home finale: P Dan Atkenson, P Trevor Feeney, P Adam Holdenrid, P Matt Jernstad, IF Tim Kamin, P Dave Nykiel, OF Danny Reed and OF Jeff Thomas. Saturday will also be NIU Baseball Alumni Day with several former players returning to McKinzie Field for pre- and post-game festivities.
--> Trevor Feeney leads the MAC in overall innings and complete games and conference wins, innings and complete games. Andy Deain leads the MAC in overall saves and is tied for the top spot in conference appearances while Jeff Thomas leads the league in stolen bases in conference.
--> Bobby Stevens has a school-record 24 HBPs this season and 42 for his career, a total that has him three away from becoming NIU's all-time leader. In the latest NCAA national rankings, Stevens ranked fourth with an average of 0.5 HBP/per game and sixth in total HBPs.
--> Plagued by a myriad of cancellations and postponements this season, Northern Illinois will play 50 regular season games in 2008, its lowest total in a decade. The Huskies played 50 games during the 1998 campaign.

IN MEMORIUM
As a tribute to the victims of the Feb. 14 campus tragedy, Northern Illinois is wearing ribbon logo decals on the back of its batting helmets along with patches on its jerseys that feature the ribbon logo and the words "Forward, Together Forward."

RECORD ATTENDANCE AT THE CELL
Northern Illinois baseball set a new single-game attendance record of 4,600 April 16 vs. Notre Dame at U.S. Cellular Field. The predominantly Huskie crowd topped the previous mark of 4,304 at Nebraska in 2005. All proceeds from the game at "The Cell" went to the NIU February 14 Scholarship Fund.

HOMEGROWN TALENT
Northern Illinois has 24 Chicagoland natives on its 2008 roster, the highest concentration of Chicago-area players (83 percent) of any Division I school in Illinois. The Huskies have 26 players (90 percent) who hail from the Land of Lincoln and three non-Illinois natives who all originate from different states, including Minnesota and representation from the "sunshine states" of California and Florida.

HIT ME WITH YOUR BEST SHOT
Shortstop Bobby Stevens has been hit by pitch a school-record 24 times this season and 42 times in his career, a total that has him three away from becoming the school's all-time leader. In the NCAA's May 11 national rankings, Stevens was fourth in average per game (0.50) and sixth in overall HBP. He compiled a statistical anomaly by being hit in eight consecutive games (April 6-19).

DOUBLING UP
With 18 doubles this season, Danny Reed ranks among the Northern Illinois single season leaders and is 58th nationally with 0.39 per game. The rightfielder is currently tied for the fourth-highest total and is within striking distance of the school-record, 24, set by Scott Simon in 2004. Reed has doubled his doubles total from a year ago, when he hit nine in 56 games. He is just four two-baggers away from reaching the school's career top-10 list.

THOU SHALT STEAL
Northern Illinois leads the MAC with 73 stolen bases in 47 games and 39 steals in 23 league contests. NIU ranks 55th nationally with 1.59 steals per game and its season total of 73 is 63rd in the country. The Huskies compiled a streak of 12 consecutive games with a stolen a base (March 28-April 18) and 10 straight games with multiple steals (April 2-April 18). Four different NIU players have 10 or more stolen bases to rank among the MAC's top 10, led by Bobby Stevens' 19.

INNINGS EATER
Trevor Feeney leads the MAC with 8.0 innings per conference start, five league wins, and is tied for first with three complete games. The senior righthander has gone 6.0 innings or more in all eight MAC starts in 2008 and 16 of his last 17 league starts. In addition, he ranks sixth on the Northern Illinois career innings list with 258.2. Feeney also leads the league with MAC with 7.58 innings per start in all games played.

STREAKERS
Four Northern Illinois players have compiled six hitting streaks of 10-plus games this season, led by Danny Reed's 17-game streak, the second-longest on record at NIU. Reed is also currently riding an 11-game streak. Jeff Thomas twice put together career-long 12-game streaks during the year to join Reed as the other Huskie with two streaks of 10 or more games. Jordin Hood and Justin Behm each put together career-best 15-game streaks, nearly simultaneously, that ended during the May 2-4 series vs. Central Michigan.

LAND OF LINCOLN LEADERS
Northern Illinois is one of just three Division I Illinois schools to post three 30-plus win seasons in the past five years (with Southern Illinois and Illinois-Chicago). Along the way, the Huskies have made a habit of winning their games against intrastate opposition under Ed Mathey, compiling a sparkling 46-22 (.676) record since 2003 for the highest victory total of any Illinois team versus in-state opponents during that span. Over the past two seasons, NIU has a 24-8 (.750) record against Division I intrastate foes, including an 11-2 mark in 2006 when they notched wins over all seven Land of Lincoln opponents to claim the Illinois "state championship."

OFFENSIVE AT THE RALPH
The Huskies are hitting .323 as a team and averaging 10.9 hits and 6.8 runs per game at Ralph McKinzie Field this season. NIU has hit 15 home runs in 17 home games (0.88 per game), compared to 38 in 47 contests overall (0.81 per game), and has topped 10 hits on eight occasions. The offensive output has helped the Huskies to an 11-6 (.647) home record and a 8-4 (.667) home mark in MAC games.

FIRST AND FOREMOST
Northern Illinois has scored 57 runs in the first inning this season (1.2 per game), 12 more tallies than any other frame, which accounts for 21 percent of its runs. NIU is 16-12 when it scores in the first inning and 16-12 when scoring first.

ON A PROFESSIONAL LEVEL
Northern Illinois will play games at five different professional ballparks during the regular season with "tour stops" at Surprise (Ariz.) Stadium (Royals/Rangers Spring Training), Rent One Ballpark (Southern Illinois Miners/Marion, Ill.), Dr. Pepper Ballpark (Frisco Roughriders/Frisco, Texas), U.S. Cellular Field (Chicago White Sox) and Elfstrom Stadium (Kane County Cougars). When the Huskies take the field at the MAC Tournament at VA Memorial Stadium (Chillicothe Paints/Chillicothe, Ohio), that number will grow to six pro venues.

HEAD OF THE CLASS
According to the Perfect Game Crosschecker recruiting rankings, Northern Illinois' early signees are ranked No. 63 nationally, highest among MAC and Illinois schools. NIU's class is headlined by P Kyle Stroup (Ingleside, Ill.) and also includes P Zach Badgley (McHenry, Ill.), IF Alex Beckmann (Batavia, Ill.), C Brett Frantini (Minooka, Ill.), OF/P Jake Hermsen (New London, Wisc.), P Chuck Lukanen (Elgin, Ill.) and P Chris Wakefield (Cherokee, Ga.). During the spring, the Huskies signed P Kyle Glancy (Oak Park, Ill.), IF Alex Jones (Kansas City, Kan.) and IF/OF/C Nick Morreale (Vernon Hills, Ill.).

ALL IN THE FAMILY
The surname Badgley is synonymous with Northern Illinois baseball as outfielder/pitcher Nick becomes the third member of the family to don the Cardinal and Black. The latest Badgley was a junior college All-American last season and succeeds brothers Dan (1997-2001) and Mark (2003-07), who both pitched for the Huskies. Younger brother Zach signed a National Letter of Intent with Northern Illinois in November and will be a freshman on the 2009 team. All told, NIU has had a Badgley on the roster every season except one (2002) since 1997, a trend that could eventually span 16 seasons when the youngster brother, Zach, is scheduled to be a senior on the 2012 squad.

BATTLE TESTED
Northern Illinois has been anything but shy when it comes to scheduling the top programs in college baseball. This season the Huskies faced No. 25 Oklahoma, No. 29 Notre Dame and two teams receiving votes in the NCBWA poll (Texas-San Antonio and Dallas Baptist). During Ed Mathey's tenure, the Huskies have made trips to take on nationally-ranked foes Arizona State, Nebraska, Texas Tech and Florida Atlantic and future opponents include Mississippi State, Arizona State, Oregon State, Missouri, and USC in the next two seasons.

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Ed Mathey has had 17 players sign professional contracts during his five seasons at Northern Illinois, including an active streak of five years with at least Major League affiliate signee. Most recently, pitchers Mark Badgley and Matt German signed with Florida Marlins and Philadelphia Phillies following the completion of their eligibility in 2007. Also signing professionally after his senior season a year ago was Scott Simon, who inked a contract in the independent Frontier League.

WHITE SOX, ROYALS REACH OUT
As part of the Huskies season-opening trip to Arizona, the Chicago White Sox and Kansas City Royals each honored the team prior to their Feb. 27 Cactus League openers. Head coach Ed Mathey and pitcher Trevor Feeney threw out the first pitch prior to the White Sox-Rockies game in Tucson as the Sox donned NIU baseball hats during the contest. In Surprise, senior outfielders Jeff Thomas and Danny Reed threw out the first pitch prior to the Royals-Rangers game and afterwards KC manager Trey Hillman and former star Frank White spoke to the team.

LEFTIST REBELS
Northern Illinois is hitting .327 against lefthanded pitching this season, over 40 points higher than its .264 average against righties. Two Huskie regulars are hitting over .400 against southpaws, Bobby Stevens with a team-best .453 average and Danny Reed at a .444 clip.

ETC.
A collection of random facts about Huskie personnel ... Head coach Ed Mathey is a member of the 2008 College Baseball Hall of Fame Voting Committee as the Midwest's "active coaches" regional representative ... Matt Behren, Pat Minogue, Brian Smith and Bobby Stevens were selected as 2008 team captains ... Dan Atkenson was recently named an All-American Strength and Conditioning Athlete ... Joe Buonavolanto's parents own the popular "Buona Beef" restaurants in the Chicagoland area ... Brandon Copp, whose mother is a police officer (but does not have the last name Copp), wears the number "five-oh" ... Joe Etcheverry is the first Californian to play for the Huskies ... At 6'7" Zach Oates is the tallest Huskie player to take the field since 1980 ... Jeff Thomas is writing a blog titled "Out in Left Field" throughout the season on NIUHuskies.com.

IN GOOD HANDS
Northern Illinois is fielding at a .964 clip through 47 games this season, the second-best percentage in the MAC. If continued, the Huskies' mark would set a new school record for fielding percentage, eclipsing the current standard of .962 set in 1959 and matched last season. NIU is 8-3 in its errorless games in 2008.

THE RACE TO SIX
The Huskies are 14-4 (.778) this season when they score six or more runs in a game. Conversely, NIU is 10-19 (.345) when failing to reach six on the scoreboard.

OH, SO CLOSE
Northern Illinois has lost 11 games this season by two runs or less, including six in MAC play. Overall, the Huskies are 7-6 in one-run games and 3-5 in two-run contests in 2008.

SATURDAY NIGHT'S ALL RIGHT
Northern Illinois has swept all four Saturday doubleheaders this season to notch eight wins, its best for any day of the week this season.

NIU's 2008 Record by Day of the Week
Monday: 1-0, 1.000
Tuesday: 4-1, .800
Wednesday: 2-4, .333
Thursday: 0-3, .000
Friday: 4-4, .500
Saturday: 8-3, .727
Sunday: 3-8, .272

HOW SWEEP IT IS
The Huskies have swept five of their seven doubleheaders this season, including four of five in the MAC, most recently on May 10 at Ball State. NIU also claimed a twinbill sweep of East Division leader Eastern Michigan on April 26 and in its April 12 sweep of Akron, the Huskies scored 28 runs, marking the highest doubleheader run total against a Division I foe since 2001. The other two Huskie doubleheader sweeps this season have come on the road, at MAC foe Buffalo and at intrastate rival Southern Illinois.

HOME RUNS BY THE BUNCH
When Northern Illinois uses the long ball, they come in bunches this season. Of the Huskies' 38 season home runs, 17 have been hit in four games. NIU has belted out four home runs in a game on four occasions this season, including a season-high five round-trippers April 18 at Toledo. The Huskies hit four homers in games against Bradley (March 25), Kent State (April 4) and at Ball State (May 10).

NO ORDINARY JOE
Joe Etcheverry tied the school record with five hits, a mark achieved only six times prior, April 23 vs. Illinois State. The freshman entered the game with four hits on the year and increased his batting average 174 points with his 5-for-5 performance.

UNCAGED DANIMAL
Senior pitcher Dan Atkenson far surpassed his previous three-year career totals this season with 42.2 innings and 41 strikeouts in 26 appearances as a key member of the Huskie pitching staff. One of the team's hardest workers, Atkenson entered the year with 12 appearances and 16.2 innings and has developed into a mainstay of the bullpen with a team-best 1.90 ERA and 3.7 to 1 strikeout to walk ratio. In a testament to his off the field work, Atkenson was named as a Strength and Conditioning All-American.

DOWNING THE VALLEY
The Huskies have compiled a 22-15 (.595) record against Missouri Valley Conference opponents over the past six seasons, including a 4-3 (.500) mark in 2008. NIU has been .500 or better each season against MVC competition every year since 2003 while facing Southern Illinois, Bradley, Illinois State and Northern Iowa during that stretch.

STAMPEDING BUFFALO
Northern Illinois set a school-record for MAC victory margin in its 17-1 rout of Buffalo on March 22. During the three-game series, NIU outscored the Bulls 33-8. Along the way, the Huskies maintained their perfect 12-0 all-time record against Buffalo.

BIG TEN TRIUMPHS
With Northern Illinois' 5-4 victory over Iowa on March 26, head coach Ed Mathey improved to 7-5 against Big Ten opponents. The Huskies have won four of their last five games against Big Ten teams.

GENTLEMEN AND SCHOLARS
Northern Illinois baseball continued its success in the classroom with a total of 13 players posting cumulative grade point averages of 3.0 or better through the fall. Pat Minogue and freshman Zach Oates and Tom Zelasko comprised the trio of players who earned Victory Scholar (3.5-4.0 GPA) recognition. Huskie Scholar (3.0-3.49) accolades went to 10 players: Brad Allen, Dan Atkenson, Nick Badgley, Cody Beck, Matt Behren, Joe Buonavolanto, Joe Etcheverry, Tim Kamin, Marvin Sanchez and Bobby Stevens.

OH CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN
Northern Illinois selected four captains for the 2008 season, all of whom are juniors. Catcher Matt Behren, outfielder Pat Minogue and pitcher Brian Smith are the elder statesmen, having used redshirt seasons during their college career, and are joined by shortstop Bobby Stevens.

HALL OF FAME MATERIAL
The National College Baseball Hall of Fame requested a bat from former NIU standout Scott Simon (2003-07) to add to its memorabilia. Simon is the Mid-American Conference's all-time hit king with 318 and owns 10 Huskie career and season records.

SOX AUCTION RAISES $10,000
The White Sox auctioned NIU baseball items signed by a number of Sox players along with two additional autographed White Sox items with proceeds benefitting the NIU February 14 Scholarship Fund. The bids from fans for the six items totaled $7,091. Chicago White Sox Charities contributed another $2,909 for a total donation of $10,000.