May 2, 2006
EVANSTON, Ill. -
Northern Illinois Game Notes in PDF Format
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Northwestern Wildcats (17-24, 14-6 Big Ten) vs.
Northern Illinois (21-23, 8-10 MAC)
Game Facts
Elfstrom Stadium (7,400)
Dimensions: 335L, 400C, 335R
The Broadcasts
Gametracker--NUsports.com
Radio--WNUR (89.3 FM)
The Game
Northwestern's baseball team steps out of conference action to take on in-state rival Northern Illinois Wednesday afternoon at Elfstrom Stadium in Geneva, Ill. Elfstrom Stadium is the Class A Midwest League affiliate of the Oakland Athletics. Game time is scheduled for 7 p.m. and can be heard on WNUR (89.3 FM).
The Huskies and Wildcats are meeting for the 23rd time with NIU holding a 12-10 advantage. In NU head coach Paul Stevens' era, NU holds a 4-3 advantage. All seven games are listed on page four.
Northern Illinois (21-23, 8-10 MAC) steps out of conference twice this week for clashes at Wisconsin-Milwaukee on Tuesday and against NU on Wednesday.
The Huskies are led by outfielder Brian Toner. He leads the squad with a .366 batting average and is third in RBI with 30. Infielder Jess Seykora has the RBI lead with 34, starting all 43 games. Toner and Seykora each have six home runs, tied for the team best. Infielder Scott Simon leads the team with 16 doubles and has an on-base percentage of .452.
On the mound, lefty closer Matt German anchors the Huskie bullpen with a 2-0 record and nine saves. Those nine saves are ranked 15th in the country. Even more impressive is his 0.62 ERA in 29.0 innings pitched. He has given up only two earned runs this season. He has 36 strikeouts and he's walked 16.
Northwestern enters the weekend after winning three-of-four at Iowa to improve its Big Ten road record to 9-3.
Sophomore Max Mann broke out of his slump with a 6-for-12 weekend, which included a game-winning home run in NU's final-inning 9-8 come-for-behind Saturday night win. He scored four runs and raised his average over 50 points in the process. Left fielder Anthony Wycklendt hit. 429 (6-for-14) with a team-high five RBI, hitting for the cycle in the four-game series.
The man on the mound for the Wildcats is Julio Siberio. The senior almost single-handedly beat the Hawkeyes over the weekend, recording two saves and a win. He pitched a total of nine innings in Iowa City and now owns NU's lowest ERA at 3.55. He has 13 appearances and five starts with one complete game and three saves. He has pitched a career-high 45.2 innings.
Projected Starters
C Geoff Dietz (.281, 4 2B, 12 RBI, Jr.)
1B Pat McMahon (.322, 23 Runs, 8 2B, 5 HR Sr.)
2B Jake Owens (.280, 31 Runs, 2 3B, HR, So.)
3B Caleb Fields (.313, 22 Runs, 3 HR, Jr.)
SS Tommy Finn (.226, 15 RBI, Fr.)
LF Anthony Wycklendt (.236, 6 2B, 5 HR, Sr.)
CF Aaron Newman (.277 22 Runs, HR, So.) OR
Dan Brauer (.324, 3B, 9 RBI, Jr.)
RF Antonio Mulé (.351, 6 HR, 30 RBI, So.)
-OR- Max Mann (.202, 2 HR, So.)
DH Antonio Mulé (.351, 6 HR, 30 RBI, So.)
-OR- Max Mann (.202, 2 HR, So.)
The Series With....
NIU: The Huskies lead 12-10
The Last Time: NU lost 10-5 at Kane County last season.
Paul Stevens vs. Northern Illinois
In his 18-plus year career, head coach Paul Stevens is 4-3 against Northern Illinois. NIU won the first match-up back in 1992, before NU posted three wins in a row. The Huskies won the second game of a 2000 doubleheader to break the three-game win streak. NU won 5-2 in 2004, but in their first game at Elfstrom Stadium, Northern bested the Wildcats 10-5.
2005: L, 10-5 at Elfstrom Stadium
2004: W, 5-2 in Evanston
2000: W, 6-3; L, 13-11 in Evanston
1998: W, 11-8 (11 inn.) in Evanston
1993: W, 8-7 in Geneva, Ill.
1992: L, 19-11 in DeKalb, Ill.
2005 Recap
Northern Illinois jumped out to a first-inning 8-0 lead and never looked back on their way to a 10-5 win. In that first inning, only two of the runs were earned as a throwing error extended the inning. The two teams combined for 26 hits and 15 runs. Huskie starter Nick Hall went six and one-third innings, striking out four to earn the win. Four different Wildcat hitters had multiple hits. Senior Pat McMahon scored two runs and tallied a pair of RBI. Stanley Finch started on the mound for NU and pitched two innings. Senior Julio Siberio pitched five innings and gave up two runs, while Chris Davidson pitched one inning and did not give up a run.
One-Run Warriors
So far this season, Northwestern has played a total of 16 one-run baseball games, nine of which have come during conference play. Overall, NU is 10-6 in closely contested games and what's even more impressive is their 8-1 conference mark. In all five conference series, NU has won at least one one-run game. Its only loss came against Indiana, back in early April.
The Siberio Scenario
Senior right-hander Julio Siberio pitched the weekend of his career at Iowa last weekend. All he did was notch saves in games one and two--a total of 3.2 innings--and just for good measure earned the win in NU's 7-6 series finale win, pitching the final five and one-third innings. In total, he pitched 9.0 innings, struck out five, walked one and made sure NU kept its first-place tie with Michigan. In eight conference appearances, including four starts, Siberio has struck out 38 and walked only six in a team-high 34.0 innings pitched. Oh, and he also leads the squad with a 3.55 ERA (13 app., 5 starts, 45.2 innings pitched) in all games.
Atop The Ten
Through five weeks (20 games) of the Big Ten conference season, Northwestern and Michigan share the top spot with identical 14-6 records. The next two weekends NU will host Minnesota (22-20, 9-11) and Michigan State (21-21, 9-11). Both squads are currently tied for fifth place.