MAC Tournament Game 2: #4 NIU vs #1 Kent State

Coming up today:

Kent State 34-20 (17-8)
vs.
Northern Illinois 27-24 (17-10)

Game Time 6:30 Central

How they got here: KSU beat CMU 4-2. NIU beat Ball State 13-7.

Head to head results this season. All games played at NIU. 11-6W, 3-2W, 9-5L. Holdenrid won the middle game of the series against the 2 teams.

Pitching Matchup:
NIU Adam Holdenrid (5-4 4.17ERA 73.1IP 92H 24BB 50K .308BA)

VS
KSU Brad Stillings (3-7 5.58 ERA 71.0IP 89H 27BB 54K .307BA)
or
KSU Kyle Smith (8-1 5.43ERA 69.2IP 71H 34BB 61K .266BA)

Yesterday's Recap

Postseason Game 1: Ball State 7, NIU 13
W / Box

Last night was an excellent game with the Huskies coming back from a 0-6 deficit to storm back and win the game with a barrage of power. Big props to the bullpen (Copp & Atkenson) for pitching 3 scoreless innings at the end of the game. Starting pitcher RHP Trevor Feeney had a tough 3rd inning giving up 5 runs, but brought it especially in the 4th and 5th.

Top Performers:

DH Justin Behm - 3 for 4, HR, 3 RBI, 2 R, BB
LF Jeff Thomas - 1 for 3, HR, 2 HBP, 3 RBI, 2 R, BB, CS
1B Dave Reynolds - 2 for 4, 2B, 3 RBI, 2 R, BB, SB, SO

MAC Tournament Game 1: #4 NIU vs #5 Ball State

It's crunch time for the NIU Baseball team

Pregame Articles
http://niuhuskies.cstv.com/sports/m-base...08aab.html

http://www.daily-chronicle.com/articles/...orts03.txt

MAC Tournament Central

Pitching Matchup

RHP Trevor Feeney (5-4, 4.43 ERA) vs RHP Tyler Pritchard (3-6, 5.50 ERA)

-These two pitchers squared off in game 1 of the regular season series. The Huskies won that game 4-1 thanks to Trevor Feeney's gem. The senior righthander went 8 innings giving up only 1 run on 5 hits. Pritchard had a decent yet shaky outing going 5 innings and giving up 3 runs on 5 hits and 4 walks. Jeff Thomas and Danny Reed each collected 2 hits off Pritchard.

Analysis
-NIU went 2-0 against Ball State this season, winning 4-1 and 7-6.

-Jordin Hood was 3-3 in game 2 of the series with 2 homeruns.

-Ball State is struggling coming into the MAC Tournament. They have lost 6 out of their last 7 games. NIU has won 5 of their last 6.

-Game 1 in a double elimination tournament is very crucial. Lose and it's very tough road back to the winners bracket.

Belated Spring Game Thoughts

Hello everybody. It's been a while (4 posts in April!), but your favorite NIU blogger is back with a vengeance. I just want it to be football season again!

Since the last time I've posted, the baseball team has continued to have success and spring practice culminated with a spring game for the football team to showcase their talents.

Since then, we've obtained a new AD (more on him later) for NIU and a new writer for this site. I'd like to welcome Nick aka 7 aka G-Force to write for this site. He adds a little more flavor and will pick up my slack when school and other commitments get in the way.

You have to feel kinda bad for the football team this year throughout the spring practicing outside. The weather has been a complete turn of a roulette wheel with most of the days ending up either very cold or rainy. By the time the spring game was about to start, it was windier than it ever was in Dekalb all year. I definitely knew that the main focus of the game will be to figure out some of our running game.

It wasn't much of a game or scrimmage. Score wasn't kept, but there were people that did score. I guess that's the best they could have done with such a depleated roster because of injuries. It was just one offense against one defense with a lot of people switching in. It wasn't terribly exciting, but then again what spring games are that interesting?

QB Controversy

The star of the spring game was clearly redshirt freshman QB DeMarcus Grady, who rushed for 118 yds on 8 carries. He also threw 4 for 7 with 36 yds and a TD. This is foreshadowing for what Grady is going to be used for during the season. Either Dan Nicholson or Chandler Harnish is going to start the regular season. More than likely if Dan N is healthy the job is going to be his. Harnish does have entire spring under his wings running the offense more efficiently than anybody, so he currently has the upper hand.

Let's just face it. Kill is going to be running the spread offense and Ryan Morris is just not suited for the job. I would say from what I've seen is that Harnish is more suited to run the spread than Nicholson, who is not as mobile as the Indiana native. Morris may have the most experience because he's been here the longest, but he sure isn't as talented. Grady is a little slow to adjust to the college game because he mostly just ran the ball in high school.

If freshman QB Brandon Rogers is going to make an impact...well I'm pretty sure he's gonna redshirt this year for the success of the future of our program. If not that, then he is a mid-season emergency QB which we don't want to see happen.

Harnish moved around really well, except one of his passes was right to the defense. DeMarcus of course moved around great as well.

Both the Daily Chronicle and the Northern Star have all their money on Dan Nicholson being the starter and I'll have to go on ahead and agree with what they're trying to say. He'll get his chance with all these freshmen biting at his heels come summer/fall.

Does anybody understand this quote?:

The most interesting thought is what to do with Grady. The coaches made it abundantly clear that they won't be switching his position and they won't be rotating quarterbacks.

“Will I package some people? You bet,” head coach Jerry Kill said. “Maybe we'll see two quarterbacks in a game. We'll see how everything progresses.”

OK. So you're not going to rotate the QB's, but we might see 2 QB's in the same game???



I actually have a better version of this run and others, but I was a little too lazy and video-illiterate to post it...

The Rest

Running backs Justin Anderson, David Bryant and Chad Spann all looked like they were in mid-season form. I'm excited about what they have to offer along with Montell Clanton coming back. Alan Smith and Rickey Crider are darkhorses.

Our offense looked horrible. Of course this was going to be expected somewhat with the experience of our defense and the fact that throwing against this severe 35 mph was insane. Walk-on TE Jack Marks had a decent outing pulling in a TD from Grady and another catch for 35 yds total. K Mike Salerno looked good cleaning up for Chris Nendick in the kicking game. He did kick with the wind from 40 yds twice, but it was impressive nonetheless.

WR Chase Mejia looked bad throughout the beginning of the spring game. He dropped passes and wasn't running the right routes. I'm happy he was able to turn around and make some good plays towards the end of the spring game. Not bad for a true freshman! LB Tim McCarthy was back from injury and playing like it was nothing. Can't wait for him to be back on the field.

As for what kind of plays we were running, it was nothing but 4-wide, trips to one side spread out stuff. There was no 2-back power offensive game of any sort throughout the spring game. I found this interesting, because I felt disappointed not getting to see most of the offense be set into motion. The defense looked very fast and ready to take people down.

On the NFL Draft front, TE Brandon Davis got an invite to the Redskins camp, while K Chris Nendick didn't get a call from any NFL team.

No Losers @ US Cellular Field

Game 32: Notre Dame 5 (23-9-1), NIU 4 (15-17)

L Recap/Photos

In front of a school-record 4,600 fans, Northern Illinois took on the Fighting Irish of Notre dame under the lights @ US Cellular Field which is the home of the Chicago White Sox. The proceeds from the $10 tickets for this game all went to the Feb. 14th scholarship to honor the victims of the horrible tragedy that happened that day.

Top Performers:

SS Bobby Stevens - 0 for 2, HBP, 2 BB, SB
LF Jeff Thomas - 0 for 3, HBP, BB, 2 R, SB, SO

LHP Brandon Copp - 2.2 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 3 K's

Summary:

Just judging by the top performers in this game, we needed to hit a little bit more. But heck, losing by 1-run to a top-30 team isn't anything to shake a stick at. Starting pitchers Matt Jernstad went 3.1 IP and Brandon Copp went 2.2 IP later in the game. I'm so thankful we were able to schedule this game with ND moving their schedule around to make it happen. It provides tremendous experience for both squads playing in a major league stadium.

Notre Dame HC Dave Schrage:

"I would like to thank the Chicago White Sox for this opportunity; it really is a great experience for our team. It was a hard fought game and I think the fans got their money's worth. There really were no losers tonight."

NIU HC Ed Mathey:

"I thought it was a real spirited contest out there tonight, with great fan support. I thought both team came out and played some pretty good baseball. We had some opportunities out there; with a few more key hits you may have seen a different result out there. They got a kid at the back of their bull pen who is pretty tough and that is a good luxury to have."

Pre-ND @ The Cell Baseball Roundup

If you haven't already, go pick up free tickets from the Convo for tonight's baseball game at US Cellular field on the south side against the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame!

Game 28: NIU 4 (12-16), Valpo 5 (9-21)
L

Top Performer:

SS Bobby Stevens - 2 for 4, 2B, HBP, 2 R, SB

Mathey-Speak/Summary:

"We just did not play well enough to win today," said head coach Ed Mathey. "Defensively, we didn't execute defensively very well and that will cost you in a close ballgame. We didn't make the plays we needed to make."

Reynolds, Hood & Copp all had errors in this game. Hood's error was the only unearned run scored in this game in the 5th inning, while Hood didn't help him in that same inning.

Game 29: Akron 4 (14-11, 1-3), NIU 5 (13-16, 6-4)
W

Top Performers:

SS Bobby Stevens - 2 for 4, HBP, 2 R, SB
DH Justin Behm - 1 for 3, RBI, R, 2 BB
3B Jordin Hood - 2 for 5, 3 RBI, 2 E

RHP Trevor Feeney - 6 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 6 K's
RHP Dan Atkenson - 3 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K's

Mathey-Speak/Summary:

"We got a big run in the seventh and finally got our bats going in the ninth," said head coach Ed Mathey. "Jordin [Hood] got a couple of big hits for us today and it is nice to see him coming around. The weather was not conducive but it was a fun ballgame and a good win for us. Our pitchers did a nice job today as well with a good start from Trevor [Feeney] and Dan [Atkenson] out of the bullpen."

It's a good thing that Hood is producing on offense (3 RBIs), because that's the 2nd unearned run he's given up by an error in 2 close games in a row.

Game 30: Akron 11 (14-12, 1-4), NIU 14 (14-16, 7-4)
W

Top Performers:

C Justin Behm - 3 for 5, 2 HR, GS, 8 RBI, 2 R
LF Jeff Thomas - 2 for 5, HBP, 3 RBI, 3 R, SB
SS Bobby Stevens - 2 for 3, 2B, 2 HBP, 3 R, SO
2B Joe Buonavolanto - 3 for 4, 2B, RBI, 2 R
3B Jordin Hood - 2 for 3, HBP, RBI, BB, SB, E
RF Danny Reed - 2 for 4, 2B, R, BB, 2 SO

RHP Andy Deain - 2.1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 5 K's

Summary:

Behm's 8 RBI's ties the school record set by Joe Milroy @ Creighton on March 20, 1999. Behm has both patience and power, while it seems his ceiling is limitless. Now that our other catcher Matt Behren is back (who ironically had the pre-season honors), I'm sure both players will switch back and forth from the DH spot to help out the health of both players. Behren was out with a hand injury, which kept him out of the first 22 games. He came back to start the April 2nd game against UW-Milwaukee. Both corner infielders had errors in this game, in which both men came in to score unearned runs.

Game 31: Akron 10 (14-13, 1-5), NIU 14 (15-16, 8-4)
W

Top Performers:

SS Bobby Stevens - 3 for 3, 2B, 3 RBI, 2 R, 2 SB
C Matt Behren - 2 for 4, 3B, 3 RBI, R, E
CF Pat Minogue - 2 for 3, 2B, R, BB
LF Jeff Thomas - 1 for 3, 2B, 2 RBI, 3 R, BB
DH Justin Behm - 1 for 3, RBI, 2 R, BB
3B Jordin Hood - 1 for 3, 3 RBI, R, BB, E

Summary:

1B Joe "Etch" Etcheverry made his first start in conference play and hit a solo HR. 3B Hood has about an error a game and it's also a good thing that our offense is making up for the lack of pitching and defense in these games. Pretty much everybody got in to this game toward the end including freshmen RHP Zach Oates, C Kevin Smith and 3B Brad Allen.

Wi-Fi Hotspots in Dekalb

Wi-Fi hotspots (NStar)
(Places you can check this blog out at around Dekalb)

Barnes & Noble, 2439 Sycamore Road
Open Sunday 10 a.m. - 8 p.m., Monday-Saturday 9 a.m. - 10 p.m.
Wireless Internet - Pay-as-you-go (about $3.99 for two hours)

Borders, 2520 Sycamore Road
Open Sunday 10 a.m. - 9 p.m., Monday-Thursday 10 a.m. - 10 p.m., Friday and Saturday 10 a.m. - 11 p.m.
Wireless Internet - Pay-as-you-go; Must be a T-Mobile internet subscriber

Caribou Coffee, 2385 Sycamore Road
Open Sunday 6 a.m. - 9:30 p.m., Monday-Thursday 6 a.m. - 10 p.m., Friday and Saturday 6 a.m. - 11 p.m.
Wireless Internet - First hour is free, then one hour for every purchase over $1.35

DeKalb Public Library, 309 Oak St.
Open Sunday 1 - 4 p.m., Monday-Thursday 9 a.m. - 9 p.m., Friday 9 a.m. - 6 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Wireless Internet - Free access

Java 101, 901 Lucinda Ave.
Hours vary
Wireless Internet - Free access

The Junction, 816 W. Lincoln Highway
Open Sunday-Wednesday 6 a.m. - 2 a.m., Thursday 6 a.m. - 3 a.m., Friday and Saturday 6 a.m. - 4 a.m.
Wireless Internet - Free access

Starbucks, 2577 Sycamore Road, 1015 W. Lincoln Highway
Sycamore Rd. Location: Open Sunday 6 a.m. - 9 p.m., Monday-Friday 5 a.m. - 10 p.m., Saturday 5:30 a.m. - 10 p.m.
Lincoln Highway Location: Sunday 6:30 a.m. - 10 p.m., Monday-Friday 5:30 a.m. - 10 p.m., Saturday 6 a.m. - 10 p.m.
Wireless Internet - Must subscribe to T-Mobile Service

Shelley’s, 901H Lucinda Ave.
Open Sunday Noon- 12 a.m., Monday-Wednesday 10:30 a.m. - 1a.m., Thursday 10:30 a.m. - 2 a.m., Friday-Saturday 10:30 a.m.-3 a.m.
Wireless Internet - Free access

Panera Bread, 2476 Sycamore Road
Open Sunday 7 a.m. - 8 p.m., Monday-Saturday 6 a.m. - 9 p.m.
Wireless Internet - Free access

The House Café, 263 E. Lincoln Highway
Closed Mondays, Hours vary rest of the week (usually 11 a.m. - 12 a.m.)
Wireless Internet - Free access

Super Baseball Round-Up

It's been a while. Classes get hard when you are a Junior. Can't wait for next year...

It was a freezing weekend in Bowling Green, OH which hampered our offensive production. Our defense didn't help much in these close games either though. Taking the game from UW-Milwaukee and taking 2 out of 3 from Pre-Season MAC favorite Kent State were essential wins for this team. Nice to see the offense come alive with this nice weather we've been having in Dekalb. Except not right now. I hate rain!

Game 21: NIU 2 (9-12, 3-1), Bowling Green 3 (9-7, 1-0)

Top Performances:

3B Jordin Hood - 1 for 3, BB, RBI
RF Danny Reed - 1 for 4, HR, RBI, R

RHP Trevor Feeney - 7 IP, 12 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 6 K's
RHP Dan Atkenson - 1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 2 K's

Quotage:

"They put the leadoff man on through the first six innings and we were only able to get our leadoff hitter on once and that is a tough way to play," said head coach Ed Mathey. "To have a 3-2 game is a testament to how well Trevor Feeney pitched for us today. He battled and even though he was saddled with the loss, he didn't deserve that fate. Offensively it is difficult to get anything going when you only get four hits. You've got to give credit to their pitcher because he threw well and was around the strike zone all game."

Game 22: NIU 3 (9-3, 3-2), Bowling Green 4 (10-7, 2-0)

Top Performances:

RF Danny Reed - 2 for 4, 2B, R
C Justin Behm - 1 for 2, 2 BB, SB
1B Dave Reynolds - 2 for 4, RBI, R

LHP Adam Holdenrid - 6 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 K's

Quotage:

"Today's game was similar to yesterday in that it came down to a matter of execution and we are just not doing that well enough right now," said head coach Ed Mathey. "Mistakes on the defensive side are haunting us and we are not generating enough offensively. I thought Adam [Holdenrid] threw well enough to win, but they threw better and got the win. We gave up too many free bases today and that ended up hurting us."

Game 23: NIU 1 (9-14, 3-3), Bowling Green 4 (11-7, 3-0)

Top Performers:

LHP Matt Jernstad - 5.2 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 3 K's

Quotage:

"Offensively, we simply could not get anything going this weekend," said head coach Ed Mathey. "We had runners at second and third and no one out in the fifth and couldn't get a run home and you just can't have that. That was a big momentum swing and they came right back in their at bat and got three runs. Their pitchers did a nice job against us today and throughout the series and I thought our pitchers threw well enough to win, we just didn't generate any offensive support."

Game 24: UW-Milwaukee 2 (5-17), NIU 3 (10-14)

Top Performers:

SS Bobby Stevens - 2 for 4, BB, SO, SB, CS
1B Dave Reynolds - 2 for 4, RBI, R, HBP, SO
3B Jordin Hood - 2 for 5, GW RBI

LHP Brandon Copp - 5 IP, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 K's

Quotage:

"It is good to be back on the winning side and you always feel better about yourself after a victory," said head coach Ed Mathey. "It was great to see Jordin come through with the winning hit and hopefully that gets him going after struggled a bit early in the season."

Game 25: Kent State 6 (10-14, 0-4), NIU 11 (11-14, 4-3)

Top Performers:

DH Justin Behm - 3 for 4, 2 HR, 3B, 5 RBI, 2 R, BB, SO
3B Jordin Hood - 4 for 5, HR, 2 2B, 3 RBI, 3 R, SO
LF Jeff Thomas - 3 for 4, R, 2 SB
RF Danny Reed - 1 for 3, 2 RBI, R, BB

Quotage:

"Our hitters did an outstanding job and we swung the bats well today," said head coach Ed Mathey, who earned the 150th win of his NIU career. "The success in the first inning was a direct result of executing our approach of waiting and hitting to the mid or opposite field. Getting back over the .500 mark in the MAC is key as so is starting off a series with a victory, especially at home. Hopefully this win will carry over to tomorrow."

Game 26: Kent State 2 (10-15, 0-5), NIU 3 (12-14, 5-3)

Top Performers:


RF Danny Reed - 2 for 4, 2B, RBI, R, 2 SO
DH Brian Smith - 1 for 2, 2 BB

LHP Adam Holdenrid - 6.2 IP, 7 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 K's

Quotage:

"We took advantage of a couple of not-so-hard hit ground balls in the ninth that probably didn't go 140 feet between the two of them, but it was enough to get a run," said head coach Ed Mathey. "Maziur made a good read on the ball and broke for the plate and earlier in the inning Marvin Sanchez placed a good bunt against a hard-charging infield. It was a game that featured good pitching and defense on both sides and you hate to see either team lose."

Game 27: Kent State 9 (11-15, 1-5), NIU 5 (12-15, 5-4)

Top Performers:

3B Jordin Hood - 3 for 5
CF Pat Minogue - 2 for 4, RBI
SS Bobby Stevens - 2 for 4, SO
RF Danny Reed - 2 for 5, 2 R, 2 SO

Summary:

Huskies had hits abound with 13, but the Red and Black lacked power and pitching in this rubber match against defending MAC Champs Kent State.

First week of spring practice in the books

Injury Updates:

RB Justin Anderson - Non-contact throughout the spring (Torn PCL from last year)
RB Montell Clanton - Out for at least a month (Torn R ACL last year)
LB Tim McCarthy - Close to 100% (Torn MCL & PCL last year)

List of players limited to running from Friday night's practice:

QB Dan Nicholson (shoulder surgery)
RB Montell Clanton (ACL)
RB Ricky Crider (broken leg)
FB Anthony Antonacci (ACL)
WR Britt Davis (shoulder surgery)
WR Matt Simon (shoulder surgery)
TE Dave Koronkiewicz (dislocated elbow still?)
DT Craig Rusch (ACL)
DE Jake Coffman (foot injury)
DL John Hopkins (compartment syndrome still?)
DL DJ Pirkle
LB Jason Cruikshank
LB Tim McCarthy (MCL & PCL)
DB Chase Carter (dislocated shoulder)

Practice Highlights:

Wide receiver Marcus Perez had the catch of the day on Wednesday at Northern Illinois spring practice with a one-handed grab on a 40-yard pass from quarterback Chandler Harnish with a defensive back draped on Perez.

Perez must be getting a ton of playing time with both starting WRs Matt Simon and Britt Davis sitting out. Even though Marcus didn't shine in Novak's system, hopefully he has come far enough in his career to have a breakout season with all the reps he's getting this spring.

Hungry? Get an interception

Now here's some motivation:

Linebackers coach Tom Matukewicz is already by far my favorite assistant coach because of this article in the Daily Chronicle from Thursday.

"Tuke" says that any player that causes a turnover "Gets Candy"

Any fumble or interception, Tuke is gonna hook you up with a nice (hopefully right out of the freezer) Snickers bar. The toughest defensive player is going to get a huge crunch bar at the end of spring ball.

More Tuke goodness:

It's not the only phrase Matukewicz sticks with. A technique drill at Monday's practice that involved defenders moving and picking up a towel had Matukewicz repeating “Shake and bake” to his players.

“He just comes up with stuff off the top of the head,” Schiller said. “Him and (wide receivers) coach (P.J.) Fleck are probably the craziest guys out there.”

“A lot of humor, I can say that,” said linebacker Phil Brown. “They're making it fun around here. It's serious, but (Matukewicz) helps us understand that it's really a game.”

“As a defense, we've got to get that mentality that each play ends with a takeaway,” Matukewicz said. “Not a tackle, not an incomplete pass. It ends with an interception. It ends with a strip attempt. It ends with a fumble recovery. That's the mentality we've got to have.”

That's what we have lacked since before I even went to school here in '05: TURNOVERS


Could the 6'6" 244 basketball player Bristan Kelley play TE for the Huskies?

Kansas State, Missouri, Iowa, Wisconsin and Miami (FL) were all interested in Bristan while he was playing football at Lee Summit North in Missouri.

I think this is a GREAT idea. We're lacking in TEs this year and I think Kelley would be a great addition to this team. He gets 2 weeks to try out. If it works out, fine. If it doesn't then no harm, no foul. He's gonna be fighting to get any minutes at all next year in the fast-paced, guard-oriented offense that Kelley is just not built for, so perhaps he can make the complete transition and be a star.

Huskie Baseball notches 2 key mid-week victories

Game 18: Bradley 5 (9-9), NIU 4 (7-11)

Box

Summary:

Jr. LHP Brandon Copp went 7 innings and had a pretty good stat line of 6 hits, 4 ER, 2 BBs and 4 Ks. The 2 errors in the 2nd inning by Stevens and Kamin didn't help the Huskies secure this victory. Ironic how they were the top 2 offensive performers. The wind was blowing out in this game and there should have been more offensive production by the rest of the Huskies.

Top Performers:

2B Tim Kamin - 2 for 3 with a double, a triple, an RBI and a run
SS Bobby Stevens - 2 for 3 with a HR, a walk, an RBI, 2 runs and a stolen base

Game 19: Bradley 6 (9-10), NIU 11 (8-11)
Box

Summary:

Freshman righty Tom Zelasko made his first career start, but couldn't manage to retire one batter, giving up 5 hits, 5 ER, while walking one guy. RHP Dan Atkenson (my favorite player) came in as the hero and threw a complete game, while he is usually the closer. Nice all around offensive game from the Huskies. 1B Dave Reynolds and RF Danny Reed had a collective 5 RBIs off of their 2 home runs. Everybody on the team got on base except for freshman catcher Sam Kapacinskas, who struck out 3 times.

Top Performers:

2B Joe Buonavolanto - 2 for 3 with 2 HRs, 3 RBIs and 2 runs
RHP Dan Atkenson - 7 IP, 5 hits, 1 ER, 1 BB and 8 Ks
SS Bobby Stevens - 3 for 4 with an RBI and a run

Game 20: NIU 5 (9-11), Iowa 4 (7-9)
Box

Summary:

In an excellent matchup against a big 10 team, NIU managed to get up early 5-2 lead against the Iowa Hawkeyes. Dave Reynolds was the do-it-all man pitching a great game and scoring 2 RBIs. This game did end Danny Reed's 17-game hitting streak, which is the 2nd longest in NIU history.

HC Ed Mathey says it best:

"To beat a Big 10 team is a good feather in our cap"

Top Performers:

LHP Dave Reynolds on the mound - 5.2 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 4 BBs and 6 Ks
Dave Reynolds in the batters box - 1 for 3 with a walk and 2 RBIs

RHP Andy Deain - 2 IP, 1 hit, 1 BB and 3 K's

CF Pat Minogue - 3 for 3 with a double, a sac hit and a run
SS Bobby Stevens - 1 for 4 with a double, a walk and 3 runs

Ah, Spring is in the air

Spring practice started Monday for the Huskies and things are a little different this year. Practices are M-W-F @ 7:50 AM. That's 15 practices until the Spring Game on April 26th. Why only 3 practices a week?

“We have to do a good job of evaluating every practice," Kill said. "We're practicing Monday, Wednesday and Friday, so that gives us a day in between to spend a lot of time on the film evaluating our players.”

During the Novak era they were getting up early to lift and also going to afternoon practices several times per week. Another good thing this year is that the practices are open to the public, which was not the case starting the last couple years or so.

A Daily Chronicle article Saturday proclaimed that 4 reasons why NIU will succeed include:

1. Dan Nicholson
2. The defense
3. Matt Simon
4. Justin Anderson

Um...what?

Dan Nicholson as the #1 reason why we will succeed? The QB who's career stats are 458 passes for 20 TDs and 22 INTs? The QB who won't throw until May because of off-season shoulder surgery? The player that had 2 concussions knock him out of games last year? Not a way to start a list for success in the 2008 season. Danny N isn't the end-all be-all for this team. Especially not if one of the redshirt freshmen Chandler Harnish or DeMarcus Grady can step up to the plate.

Here's a blurb about Matt Simon:

The senior wide receiver will once again be looked at as the main target for Nicholson. Coupled with a healthy Britt Davis - who also had surgery on his shoulder like Simon and Nicholson - and an emerging 6-foot-3 Landon Cox, who reminds me a little bit like Sam Hurd, Simon will have a good core of wide receivers built around him.

An emerging Landon Cox? The WR who had 2 catches LY for 19 yds, which places him 12th on the team in yards? I don't think so. And the comparison to Sam Hurd is a little ridiculous. The only comparison I see is that Cox is 6'3 and Hurd is 6'2".

Also, Nick's season predictions are ridiculous as well, having us winning our first 4 road games and then losing 3 home games.


More random spring notes:

Jerry Kill has a request:

"It's been different for us being indoors (for winter conditioning)," Kill said of his staff, most of which followed him from Carbondale. "We never went indoors, but they had nine inches of rain and flood warnings down there not too long ago, so their weather has been miserable, too.

"It's why we need that indoor (practice) facility)."

The 13 players from last year that had major surgeries will not be cleared to practice until June 1st, setting the team back a bit.

The base defense will still be a 4-3.

Illinois transfer QB/ATH Paul Blalock is getting some looks at fullback.

QB Chandler Harnish speaks out about the offense:

“Offensively speaking we're going to be in shotgun a lot more compared to last year when we were rarely in shotgun,” Chandler Harnish said. “QB's will be a lot more involved in our offense, which I'm real excited about. It'll be a lot more explosive on offense.”

"There's a lot of running, lot of sprint-out type passes," said Harnish

"Some of those QB runs we have designed, really helps spreading out the defense."

QB DeMarcus Grady:

“We're running a little zone read and trying to open up the offense a little more,” Grady said. “We're trying to have the quarterbacks be a threat and try and give the offense a new dimension.”

How Kill makes every day a competition:

"Everything we do in the offseason is competition. Winners or losers," he said. "You don't miss class. If you do, you lose points. There's competition in the classroom, too. If you get A's and B's, you get a certain amount of points. If you get C's and D's, you don't get as many. We make everything we do competition."

And those who aren't accountable, can find themselves attired like one offensive lineman Monday, in the yellow 'I let my team down,' jersey.

"If you don't do the right things, you pay the piper," said Kill. "Then I don't have to scream and yell at 'em. Just put 'em in the yellow shirt and I save my voice and I'll be able to coach longer.

"That (jersey) is something they don't want to be in."

I sure wouldn't want to be wearing that yellow jersey! Good idea coach.