Huskies Set to Host Northwestern Wednesday at Road Ranger Stadium

NIU ready for first of three 2010 pro stadium games

The Match-Up: Northern Illinois (11-19, 4-5 MAC) vs. Northwestern (9-21, 3-3 Big Ten)

Date(s): Wed., April 14 @ 6:05 p.m. CST

Location: Road Ranger Stadium | Loves Park, Ill.

Coverage: GameTracker on niuhuskies.com

All-Time Series: Northern Illinois leads, 14-8

Projected Pitchers:

RHP Brian Smith (0-2 | 29.57 ERA) vs. RHP Luke Farrell (0-0 | 14.29 ERA)

The Leadoff

In the first of three professional stadium games for the Huskies in 2010, NIU will host Northwestern in the teams’ fourth match-up at a pro venue since 2005. The game at the Rockford RiverHawks’ Road Ranger Stadium marks the second year in a row that the Huskies have made an appearance at the Rockford-area ballpark, marking the first two times that the Huskies have ever been seen in the area.

Tickets for the Big League game can be bought at the gate, as general admission is only $5 and NIU students can get in for just $2 by showing a valid student ID.

Last season’s game in Rockford provided an exciting performance, despite a tough 7-6 loss to Milwaukee, as Jordin Hood launched a pair of moonshots into the night.

The RiverHawks are a member of the Northern League, an eight-team independent baseball league ready to begin its 18th season in 2010. The RiverHawks’ ninth season is set to begin with a home game versus the Schaumburg Flyers at 7:05 p.m. May 20th. Last year’s game marked the first Division I contest at their ballpark.

Under head coach Ed Mathey, the Huskies are 3-1 versus Northwestern and come into the contest following a 5-4 win in the road series finale against Miami (Ohio). NIU is also undefeated in its last three midweek match-ups after wins over Illinois State, Bradley and Milwaukee.

The Wildcats enter the game after taking two of three at Penn State (11-5 | 3-2 (11)), losing the 6-5 finale, and have won three of their last five games.

The AccuWeather.com forecast for the game calls for a partly cloudy evening in the mid-60s.

Directions to the stadium that is located at 4503 Interstate Blvd., Loves Park, Ill. are as follows:

From the West: Take Riverside Dr. east until approximately 1/4 mile east of the I-90/I-39 (Jane Adams/Northwest Tollway) interchange. Turn left at Interstate Blvd. Continue approximately 1/2 mile north to stadium parking lot at end of street.

From the South and East: Take I-90/I-39 (Northwest Tollway) west/north to Riverside interchange. Turn right (east) on Riverside Dr. approximately 1/4 mile. Turn left at Interstate Blvd. Continue approximately 1/2 mile north to stadium parking lot at end of street. Tollway travelers, please note: there is an automated 60-cent toll for traffic exiting and an automated 60-cent toll for entering the tollway if you make your round trip in this direction. For local traffic from the east, take Riverside west to Interstate Blvd.

From the North: Take I-90/I-39 Northwest Tollway east/south to the Riverside interchange. Turn left at the off-ramp. Continue east about 1/2 mile and turn left at Interstate Blvd. Continue approximately 1/2 mile north to stadium parking lot at end of street.

Skipping the Tollway: If you are coming from the Chicago suburbs, you may take US-20 into Rockford or exit the Jane Adams Tollway at the Belvidere interchange, located immediately before a $1.60 toll. Take a right at the exit (Belvidere-Genoa Rd.) and continue north as the road becomes Business Route 20. Continue on BR-20 approximately eight miles, through the outskirts of Belvidere, to Shaw Road and take a right. Continue north on Shaw approximately three miles until road ends at Riverside. Turn left at Riverside and continue west two miles. Turn right at Riverside Blvd.

The All-Time Series

Northern Illinois leads the all-time series, 14-8, but lost last season’s road game, 6-5. However, of the three contests against the Wildcats at a pro venue, all were at Elfstrom Stadium in Geneva, Ill., NIU has won each time. In 2007, the Huskies won 5-4. In 2006, they won 8-6. In 2005, they won 10-5.

last match-up against Northwestern

With one out, a one-run lead and the tying run on third, Dave Reynolds came in to replace Tom Zelasko on the mound for Northern Illinois to face Northwestern’s Jake Goebbert, and Goebbert won the confrontation, as he blasted a walk-off two-run homerun to right field to win it 6-5 for the host Wildcats (7-20) April 8th, 2009.

Wildcat reliever David Jensen (1-2) earned the win after pitching a perfect ninth, while Reynolds (0-2) took the loss after facing just Goebbert, giving up an earned run on the homer.

The Huskies (11-18) tagged Northwestern starter Matt Diedrich for five earned runs on seven hits and three walks in five innings, while he recorded only one strikeout. NIU starter Tom Barry posted his third straight start of allowing just one earned run as he lasted four innings, surrendering five hits and a walk with a strikeout. He has now given up only three earned runs in his three starts this year, one in each, while tallying a 1.76 ERA, six walks and seven strikeouts in 15.1 innings.

Finn led the Wildcat offense with three hits and a run scored, while Goebbert had two hits and two RBI on the walk-off homer. Chris Lashmet added a solo homer and scored two runs. Chad Noble and Quentin Williams each had a pair of hits as well.

Brett Frantini led the Huskie offense with a career high two RBI and two hits in three at-bats. Joe Buonavolanto also totaled two hits and scored a run. Jordin Hood had a solo homer which was good for an RBI and a run. Matt Behren had a hit and a run scored, while Nick Badgley had an RBI single. Justin Behm scored two runs and added a hit with a walk.

The Huskies led the entire game before the Wildcats won it in the ninth. NIU started quickly with a two-out solo homerun to left-center field by Hood in the first inning. The Huskies then scored again in the second on a two-run single to right-center by Frantini.

In the fourth, NIU went up 4-1 after Behm doubled with one-out and came around to score on a wild pitch. However, Northwestern countered with two runs as Tony Vercelli double to right to drive in a run and Williams had a two-out RBI infield single to shortstop.

The teams then exchanged runs again in the sixth, each getting one apiece. Badgley roped a two-out RBI single up the middle for NIU and Kenneth Avila delivered a one-out RBI double to right-center for the Wildcats that scored Noble and should have scored another, but shortstop Alex Jones threw out Vercelli as he tried to advance to third on Noble’s infield single that kicked away from Jones on the previous play NIU then got out of the inning after Buonavolanto ranged to his left to make a nice stop and throw from his knees to get pinch-hitter Paul Sneider and prevent the tying run from scoring.

Meet The Wildcats

The Wildcats wrapped 2009 with a 14-35-1, 5-17 Big Ten record for a ninth-place finish and are currently 9-21, 3-3 in 2010. After dropping nine of 10 recently, Northwestern recovered to win three of its last five, as the Wildcats took one from Ohio State at home (8-2) and two of three at Penn State last weekend.

The Wildcats own a .290 batting average, 150 runs, .391 slugging percentage, .368 on-base percentage, and 30 stolen bases. The arms sport a 6.19 ERA, allowing 222 runs on 338 hits and 1-6 walks with 212 strikeouts in 259 innings.

Chris Lashmet runs the offense with a .304 average (34-for-112), 16 runs, seven doubles, three triples, one home run, 25 RBI, .446 slugging percentage, .380 on-base percentage, and three steals. The bullpen is anchored by Paul Snieder (0-1), who also leads the bats with a .390 average, as he has three saves in 10 appearances, surrendering five runs on 12 hits and seven walks with 19 strikeouts in 19.2 innings.

Carry-Over Streak

Dating back to the 2009 season, lefty Chuck Lukanen has a current streak of 13 consecutive starts, five last year and eight this year, with four or more strikeouts on the mound, compiling 84 Ks over 87.1 innings.

2010 Streaks

Cory Krupp, Brian Riegler and Wes Shryock have each reached base safely in four consecutive games.

Reliever Tom Zelasko has not allowed a run in his last five appearances. In the 5.1 innings, he has surrendered six hits and no walks with five strikeouts.

Closer Andy Deain has recorded at least a strikeout in his last five appearances, compiling eight in the 10.2 innings, while reliever Kyle Glancy has fanned at least one in each of his last three outings, totaling four in 2.1 frames.

Jeremy Gonzales has lasted at least six innings in each of his last three starts, averaging seven innings per start, while allowing just eight runs in those 21 innings and posting back-to-back quality starts in his last two. Chuck Lukanen has also lasted at least six in his last four, averaging 7.5 frames per start.

National Leaders Through April 4

Jordin Hood has been hit by a pitch 14 times, which ranks eighth in the nation.

Andy Deain’s five saves ranks in a tie for 27th in the nation and first in the MAC.

MAC Leaders Through April 13

Joe Etcheverry’s 26 walks rank second.

Cory Krupp’s 10 steals rank in a tie for fifth, while Jordin Hood’s nine put him in a tie for eighth.

Jordin Hood’s eight steals rank eighth, while his .439 on-base percentage ranks 10th.

Chuck Lukanen’s 52 innings pitched and Jeremy Gonzales’ 49.1 rank fifth and sixth, respectively, while they also rank in a tie for first (50) and eighth (37) in strikeouts. Additionally, Gonzales’ 4.01 ERA ranks ninth and his .235 batting average against ranks second.

Kyle Glancy (17), Andy Deain (16) and Tom Zelasko (16) rank in a tie for first and fourth in appearances on the mound.

“THE RALPH” ADVANTAGE

Under Mathey, the Huskies are 85-51-1 at Ralph McKinzie Field, home of Huskie baseball, and a 7-5 win over Milwaukee March 24th, gave NIU its seventh win in its last eight openers. An 8-7 mark last season gave the Huskies their sixth above .500 season in their last seven at “The Ralph,” where they are 2-2 in 2010.

Illi-Noise

NIU is 3-2 against Illinois foes this season and most recently took down Illinois State on the road Tuesday, 11-4, marking the Huskies’ third straight win over an Illinois opponent. NIU also beat Bradley, 8-3, March 31st in the Braves’ home opener and defeated Southern Illinois, 13-9, March 20th in the finale of a three-game series. In eight seasons under head coach Ed Mathey, the Huskies are 54-26 versus intrastate opponents.

You Complete Me

Southpaw Chuck Lukanen earned the win April 2nd by throwing his second complete game of his career and NIU’s first this season. He was also the last Huskie to complete a start, doing so in a 16-3 win at Central Michigan May 1st, 2009. Against the Buffalo, he scattered five hits, surrendering just one run and three walks with five strikeouts.

Jeremy Gonzales followed Lukanen’s complete game by going the distance, as well, April 3rd but wasn’t lucky enough to get the win as he was given his first loss. The teammates are the first since Trevor Feeney and Adam Holdenrid to put together back-to-back complete game efforts as the former Huskies both did it against Buffalo, too, respectively, in a doubleheader sweep on March, 22 two years ago. Gonzales’ season-long outing resulted in three runs on six hits and two walks with a season-best tying eight strikeouts.

Let’s Play More --- same time, different place

Exactly two years ago to the day, the Huskies’ 9-8 loss in 11 innings to Austin Peay on Feb. 28 this season marked the first 11-plus inning game since a 16-inning 9-6 loss to Portland in 2008.

home, sweet home

With the trip to Bakersfield, Calif. over spring break from March 5-6, the Etcheverry brothers returned to their old stomping grounds. Joe was a four-year letterwinner for the Centennial High School baseball team in Bakersfield, while Ben was a two-year player before moving to Florida to finish his high school career at Lake Region High School in Winter Haven, Fla. As a senior, Joe earned Area Player of the Year and Southwest Yosemite League MVP, while Ben was named an all-state performer in his sophomore and final season at Centennial.

During the three-game NIU sweep over CSU Bakersfield, Joe Etcheverry recorded a hit in each game (4-for-9) with two runs and three RBI.

Gonzales also returned to his hometown, where he was a four-year letterwinner at South High School, and was named team captain and MVP in his senior season.

He started Game Two against CSU Bakersfield and had his best start of the year thus far, throwing seven innings of one-hit ball with seven strikeouts and two walks, and allowed no runs, to pick up his first win as a Huskie.

Additionally, California native Wes Shryock returned to his home state, as well, where he was a four-year letterwinner at Desert Christian High School in Lancaster, Calif., and was named first team all-conference and second team all-area in his final season.

He gathered his first hit of his NIU career in a pinch-hit at-bat against Cal Poly on March 9, and registered his first walk and stolen base as a Huskie against UC Santa Barbara on March 12.

huskie firsts

Four Huskies notched their first hits in an NIU uniform in the season-opening Arizona State series. Cory Krupp got his in the season opener on Feb. 19, while the other three got theirs in the series finale on Feb. 21 as Ben Etcheverry, Tom Kotis and Brian Riegler each had a single. Jeremy Gonzales also made his first two appearances in a Huskie uniform on the mound on Feb. 19 and 20, and he had a stellar debut after compiling a 3.18 ERA in 5.2 innings while allowing two earned runs on three hits and six walks with four strikeouts.

In Krupp’s second game on Feb. 20, he notched his first run and walk, while he tallied his first RBI and steal on Feb. 27 against Austin Peay.

Hermsen knocked out his first home run of his career against CSU Bakersfield on March 5, and has three long balls in the month of March, his first three of his career, which ranks second on the team.

Brett Frantini blasted his first career home run on March 6 against CSU Bakersfield and logged his first collegiate inning on the mound with a perfect sixth inning in last Wednesday’s 8-3 win at Bradley, in which he notched his first strikeout, as well.

Jamison Wells gathered his first collegiate hit in Game One of the Southern Illinois doubleheader on March 20.

Kyle Glancy picked up his first collegiate win in relief by holding Milwaukee scoreless over 1.2 innings, surrendering only a hit March 24th.

Alex Beckmann notched his first career triple in Tuesday’s win at Illinois State.

DJ Hood

Hood spent a significant amount of time last season scratching NIU’s records, and figures to do the same in 2010. In 2009, he was named to the All-MAC second team for the second time in his career, making him the sixth Huskie to be selected to an All-MAC team more than once. He set career-highs in batting average, runs, hits, doubles, homers, RBI and steals, while he also finished the season ranked in the top ten in several categories of the NIU record book. His 76 hits rank in a tie for third on the single season all-time NIU list, while his junior campaign also ranks fifth in runs scored (57), eighth in RBI (46) and tied for 10th in homers (10).

Hood finished an outstanding 2009 with a .474 on-base percentage (sixth in MAC), 57 runs (tied for sixth in MAC), 76 hits (eighth in MAC), a .382 average (ninth in MAC), 14 steals (tied for ninth in MAC) and 125 total bases (10th in MAC). He also had 46 runs batted in, 15 doubles, two triples, 10 homeruns, 12 walks, a .628 slugging percentage, and was hit by 23 pitches (tied for third in nation). Additionally, he had 24 multiple-hit games and 13 multi-RBI contests, while he had a career-best hitting streak of 18 games from February 27 to March 27.

Hood entered the 2010 season ranked fourth in program history in hits (204), tied for fourth in homeruns (23), tied for fifth in triples (7), sixth in RBI (118), seventh in at-bats (614), seventh in steals (37) and eighth in runs scored (127) and doubles (36).

He now holds the all-time hit-by-pitch record at NIU with 53, breaking former teammate Bobby Stevens’ (2006-08) record of 45. With his two hits win at Illinois State April 6th, Hood moved up to third all-time in career hits (234) at NIU, passing Rob Marconi (2001-04 | 233). After the Miami series, he now has 238, just six shy of second place’s Pat Kerrigan (1999-2002). He also currently sits second all-time in home runs (29), fourth in RBI (137), runs scored (154), and at-bats (734), fifth in triples (7), doubles (43) and steals (46).

Leadership Council

Ten Huskies have been selected by Mathey to formulate a “Leadership Council” this season with the purpose of having a weekly team discussion on various team building topics in order to help the program succeed. Every week each council member will read literature on a various team building topic and bring their thoughts to each week’s team meeting. The group is composed of five seniors, two juniors and three sophomores. The seniors are Andy Deain, Hood, Sam Kapacinskas, Dave Reynolds and Brian Smith. The juniors are Joe Etcheverry and Zach Oates. The sophomores are Beckmann, Glancy and White.

The Four Captains

The team captains of this year’s Huskie baseball squad are Hood, Reynolds, Brian Smith and Oates.

Master Mathey

Head coach Ed Mathey entered his eighth season at NIU as the program’s all-time wins leader (197-222-1). With a 6-1 home win over Buffalo April 2nd, he earned his 400th win (402-393-3) of his 16-year career and sits three victories away from his 200th win at Northern Illinois. He also owns four of NIU’s five best single season win totals, including the top three spots (34 in 2003 | 34 in 2007 | 31 in 2004).

Additionally, throughout his career Mathey has coached 54 all-conference, 18 all-region and four All-American selections.

Pro Huskies

NIU has hosted at least one game in a professional ball park in each season since 2005. The Huskies have played and won four games at Elfstrom Stadium in Geneva, Ill., home of the Oakland Athletics’ Low-A affiliate Kane County Cougars. In 2008, NIU hosted No. 29 Notre Dame at U.S. Cellular Field in Chicago, Ill., home of the 2005 World Series Champion Chicago White Sox. Despite losing 5-4, the Huskies and White Sox raised over $65,000 for the NIU February 14 Forward, Together Forward Scholarship Fund. Last season, NIU hosted Milwaukee at Road Ranger Stadium in Loves Park, Ill., home of the Northern League’s Rockford RiverHawks. Even though the Huskies lost 7-6, the game marked NIU’s first in the Rockford area and the first Division I baseball game at the stadium.

Wednesday will mark the first of NIU’s three 2010 pro stadium games. After a one-year hiatus, NIU will also come back to Elfstrom Stadium to take on Illinois Chicago at 6:05 p.m. on Tuesday, April 20. Additionally, NIU will be hosted by Milwaukee at Miller Park, home of the Milwaukee Brewers, on Wednesday, May 12, as the Huskies and Panthers will start approximately 30 minutes after the Brewers vs. Atlanta Braves noon contest.

Huskie Pros

At least one Huskie has signed a Major League Baseball contract in each of head coach Ed Mathey’s seven years at NIU. Overall, 21 NIU players have signed pro contracts under Mathey, and seven have been selected in the MLB Amateur Draft.

NIU Staying Classy

The NIU baseball program has kept pace with the rest of NIU’s sports programs to help extend Huskie athletes’ streak of semesters with a combined cumulative GPA of 3.0 or better to nine. Through the fall of 2009, 12 players have at least a 3.0 cumulative GPA.

Huskie Boomers

Mathey’s 2010 signing class of 11 future Huskies is the largest of his seven-year tenure. The class, which is full of large, athletic frames of raw talent, is composed of eight players from the state of Illinois with one each from Arizona, Minnesota and Missouri. The group includes RHP Eli Anderson (Glenview, Ill./New Trier Township), LHP/OF Anthony Andres (Western Springs, Ill./St. Rita of Cascia), RHP/OF Bo Andrews (Roscoe, Ill./Harlem), C Joe Battaglia (Westchester, Ill./St. Joseph), IF Chris Divarco (Long Grove, Ill./Carmel Catholic), IF Tom Keating (Chicago, Ill./St. Laurence), RHP/IF Alex Klonowski (Kearney, Mo./Kearney), RHP/OF Trey Lange (Mesa, Ariz./Skyline), OF Jordan Rishavy (Rochester, Minn./John Marshall/North Iowa Area C.C.), RHP/IF Kevin Sweeney (Chicago, Ill./Fenwick) and IF Jeff Zimmerman (Tinley Park, Ill./Victor J. Andrew).

Boys of Summer

A trio of Huskies earned all-star nods during the summer of 2009 as they were competing in various summer leagues. Hood represented the Quincy Gems, Jones represented the KC Bandits and Lukanen represented the Green Bay Bullfrogs.

Wells Rounded

Being an exception athlete, Wells will not only be playing baseball for Northern Illinois, he will also be playing football for head coach Jerry Kill in the 2010 campaign. Wells was a three-year letterwinner at Kimberly High School in Combined Locks, Wis., earning two-way Wisconsin Football Coaches Association (WFC) first team all-state, two-way WFCA all-region, and 2008 WFCA Defensive Player of the Year as a senior. He was also named to the Associated Press’ 2008 Wisconsin all-state football team at both wide receiver and defensive back.

It’s All In The Family

Zach Badgley is the fourth member of his family to take the mound for Northern Illinois, following Dan (1997-2001), Mark (2003-07) and Nick (2008-09). Since 1997, there has only been one season (2002) of NIU baseball without a Badgley family member.

Smitten with smitty

Sixth-year senior pitcher and Student Athlete Advisory Committee President Brian Smith is the younger brother of second-year assistant coach Jason Smith, who handles hitting and first base coaching duties for NIU. You can follow the Huskies all season long through Brian’s blog --- Can O’ Corn: Bloggin’ NIU Baseball With Pitcher Brian Smith (http://www.niuhuskies.com/sports/m-basebl/spec-rel/10-m-basebl-blog.html).

As Brian mentions in his first entry, being brothers, he and Jason look pretty similar. The two have been mistaken for each other many, many times and he has issued a challenge for everyone to not get the two mixed up anymore. The two talk about this issue often and he will call you out in his blog if you do mess up.

This week’s Can O’ Corn highlight: Smith gave a recap of the Miami series and talked about Andy Deain’s obsession of winning arcade game prizes.

On Deck

After the midweek pro game, the Huskies will host a three-game MAC series against Ohio. Contests are scheduled for 3:05 p.m. Friday, 1:05 p.m. Saturday and 1:05 p.m. Sunday.

-NIU-

For more information, contact Zach Peters, NIU Athletics Media Relations, at 815-753-9572 (office) or 815-508-3375 (cell). Visit our website to keep up with all the latest news, statistics, and information on Northern Illinois Sports and read “Huskie Happenings” daily on www.NIUHuskies.com.