May 11, 2008

Complete Game Notes in PDF Format

Game 47: May 12
NORTHERN ILLINOIS (23-23) vs. NORTHERN IOWA (28-19)
Monday: 2 p.m. CT
Location: Ralph McKinzie Field, DeKalb, Ill.
Live Coverage: CSTV GameTracker on NIUHuskies.com
Series History: Tied 8-8
Ed Mathey vs. Northern Iowa: 1-1
Last Meeting: April 12, 2006 at Waterloo, NIU 7-6
Notes: Ed Mathey earned his 300th career victory in the teams' last meeting ... Each of the last two meetings have been decided by one run ... NIU won the last meeting at McKinzie Field in 2005, 4-3, in 15 innings, a game that set a school record for innings and duration (4:11) ... The 2005 game was the teams first meeting in 10 seasons.

PROBABLE PITCHERS
NIU LHP Brandon Copp (1-6, 6.71) or LHP Dave Reynolds (4-0, 5.76) vs. UNI LHP Mike O"Leary (2-3, 4.86)

SHORT HOPS
-The Huskies are playing their first and only scheduled Monday game of the season against Northern Iowa.
-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.
-Northern Illinois is 21-15 (.583) against Missouri Valley Conference opposition under head coach Ed Mathey. In 2008, NIU is 3-3 after taking two of three at Southern Illinois, splitting a doubleheader vs. Bradley and dropping its meeting vs. Illinois State.
-Bobby Stevens ranks second nationally with a school-record 23 HBPs. His average of 0.52 HBP/per game ranked fourth in the nation in the latest NCAA statistics. Stevens has been hit by pitch 41 times during his career, a total that has him four away from becoming NIU's all-time leader.
-The Huskies lead the MAC with 72 stolen bases (1.57 per game) and ranked 53rd nationally in last week's NCAA statistics. NIU also has a MAC-best 38 stolen bases (1.65 per game) in league games. Four Huskies (Bobby Stevens, Jeff Thomas, Jordin Hood and Pat Minogue) rank among the MAC's top-10 basestealers this season.
-Danny Reed has 18 doubles, twice his 2007 total, which is tied for the fourth-highest single season mark in Northern Illinois history.

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.

DOWNING THE VALLEY
The Huskies have compiled a 21-15 (.583) record against Missouri Valley Conference opponents over the past six seasons, including a 3-3 (.500) mark so far in 2008. NIU has been .500 or better each season against MVC competition since 2003 while facing Southern Illinois, Bradley, Illinois State and Northern Iowa during that stretch.

HIT ME WITH YOUR BEST SHOT
Shortstop Bobby Stevens has been hit by pitch a school-record 23 times this season, a total that ranks second nationally and fourth in average per game (0.52). He compiled a statistical anomaly by being hit in eight consecutive games (April 6-19). Stevens' career HBP total is 41, ranking second on the NIU all-time list, four away from being the school's leader.

DOUBLING UP
With 18 doubles this season, Danny Reed ranks among the Northern Illinois single season leaders. 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.

STREAKERS
Six Northern Illinois players have compiled five 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 a 10-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 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 .324 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 16 home games (0.94 per game), compared to 33 in 44 contests overall (0.75 per game), and has topped 10 hits on eight occasions. The offensive output has helped the Huskies to a 10-6 (.625) home record and a 8-4 (.667) home mark in MAC games.

FIRST AND FOREMOST
Northern Illinois has scored 55 runs in the first inning this season (1.2 per game), 10 more tallies than any other frame, which accounts for 21 percent of its runs. NIU is 15-12 when it scores in the first inning and 16-12 when scoring first.

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.

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). Should the Huskies reach the MAC Tournament held 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.

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. Junior Pat Minogue and freshmen Zach Oates and Tom Zelasko led that group by earning Victory Scholar (3.5-4.0 GPA) recognition.

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.

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.