April 16, 2010
Final Stats
DEKALB, Ill.-The Ohio baseball team found itself in a six-run hole after five innings, but nearly pulled off a tremendous comeback in Friday’s 7-6 loss at Northern Illinois at Ralph McKinzie Field in DeKalb, Ill.
NIU first baseman Jeff Reynolds and designated hitter Joe Etcheverry had two hits and drove in two runs, while shortstop Alex Jones went 3-4. Reynolds scored twice.
Ohio got a great effort from left fielder Robert Maddox III, who went 3-5 with four RBIs and two runs scored. He and shortstop Wesley O’Neill scored twice, while O’Neill also had three hits.
NIU starter Chuck Lukanen (3-6) picked up the win, throwing seven innings and allowing five runs on 11 hits with four strikeouts and three walks. Closer Andy Deain notched his sixth save, yielding a run on two hits with a strikeout and a walk in the last frame.
Ohio starter Bryce Butt (2-6) suffered the loss, surrendering seven runs on 13 hits with four strikeouts and one walk in six and two-thirds innings. Relievers Andrew Danko and Ben Trimbur kept the Huskies off the boards over the final one and one-third innings, allowing a hit and a walk.
NIU scored twice in the second and one in the third before Ohio got on the board in the fourth with an RB I single through the left side by third baseman Bryan Barnes. Maddox, who singled through the right side to lead off the inning, scored on the play.
The Huskies then put four more on the board in the fifth, before Ohio responded with one in the sixth, three in the seventh and one in the ninth.
Catcher Kris McDonough accounted for the sixth-inning tally when his fifth homer of the season cleared the fence in left field. Maddox sent one out of that same part of the park, a three-run shot, in the seventh for his seventh homer of the season. Shorstop Zach Keen (walk) and O’Neill (single to left) scored on the play.
Maddox struck again with an RBI double to right center in the last inning, plating O’Neill, who reached on a single to second. Pinch hitter Seth Streich, representing the go-ahead run, got aboard with a walk, but Deain promptly coaxed an Ohio popup to finish the game.
First baseman Jerod Yakubik’s double in the third inning was his eighth of the season.
The two teams will hook up Saturday at 2 p.m. ET (1 p.m. CT) in the second game of the series.
