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~ADVERTISING~
Panthers sweep Aces under doormat
By MATT COSS, Courier Sports Writer
WATERLOO — To compete for a conference title in any sport, a program needs to be good and fortunate.
Northern Iowa’s baseball team was both Saturday afternoon against Evansville.
The Panthers capitalized on two wild pitches to steal the opener, 5-4, then blasted 17 hits in the nightcap for a 14-4 rout in eight innings at a blustery Riverfront Stadium.
UNI, which has won nine of its last 10, swept the three-game series — its first Missouri Valley Conference sweep since 2005.
“That’s huge for us,” said pitcher Taylor Sinclair, who pitched 5 2/3 innings to earn the win in Game 2. “Starting out 3-0 gives us all the confidence in the world.”
Even though Evansville (2-21, 1-5 MVC) is the league’s worst hitting, pitching and fielding team statistically and 0-10 away from home, UNI (13-9, 3-0) is pleased to capture a league-opening series for the first time in six seasons.
“I’ve only won a couple series since I’ve been here, so to sweep right out of the gates is huge for our team,” shortstop Brandon Douglas said. “I think it’s going to be a great ride the rest of the season.”
Douglas came to the ballpark with a swollen right thumb and uncertain if he’d play. UNI’s all-conference infielder injured it fielding a sharp grounder the night before.
It had no impact on his production.
Douglas went 7-for-9 in the twinbill, including 5-for-5 in the second game with four runs scored, four RBIs and three doubles. He was a home run short of the cycle.
“I felt real comfortable in the box,” he said. “It looked like a softball coming in there. I was seeing it that well.”
The Panthers had five multiple-run innings in the second game against the Aces, who came in with a team ERA of 6.73. Dane Embury was 3-for-5 with a homer and four runs scored, while Chris Lopez had two hits and four RBIs.
“It was good to get a bunch of run support,” said Sinclair, who struck out nine and walked two. “It helped me go after them and just pound the zone.”
It came on the heels of a UNI comeback in Game 1.
Trailing 4-2 in the eighth inning, the Panthers strung together three runs with two outs.
After a run-scoring hit by Lopez made it 4-3 and a walk to Brett Featherston loaded the bases, UNI head coach Rick Heller elected to pinch-hit for Brett Douglas — at the time the team leader in RBIs. He brought in Kalvin Johnson, who had just one at-bat on the season.
“Brett is beating himself up a little bit with his confidence, and Kalvin had swung it pretty well in practice,” Heller said. “It was kind of a gut feeling.”
Johnson didn’t even have to swing the bat. Evansville closer J.R. Carbonell uncorked two wild pitches in the at-bat to allow the tying and eventual game-winning runs to score.
It marked the first time UNI had won a game this season trailing after six innings.
“We really needed that win,” Heller said. “If we’re going to make a run at this thing, we had to find a way to win that game.
“We took advantage of a team that is struggling and losing their confidence. You could see them tense up, and we’ve all been there on the other side of the coin.”
Guido Fonseca pitched eight innings to improve to 5-0. For the series, UNI’s pitching staff registered a 2.08 ERA and had 34 strikeouts versus six walks.
“The last two years, we’ve really struggled and given up too many free passes,” Heller said. “We’ve finally figured out we have to throw the ball over the plate.
“When we do, good things happen.”
NOTES: UNI plays host to Grand View College at 3 p.m. Wednesday before beginning a seven-game road swing Friday that includes trips to Indiana State, Minnesota and Illinois State. ... The Panthers have 49 hits in their last four games, raising their team average to .312. ... Bradley was the last MVC opponent UNI had swept, doing so May 13-15 in 2005.
Contact Matt Coss at (319) 291-1468 or matt.coss@wcfcourier.com
FIRST GAME
Evansville ab r h bi N. Iowa ab r h bi
Wallace,lf 4 1 1 0 Manrique,cf 4 3 3 0
Kuester,2b 3 0 1 2 Embury,lf 3 0 1 0
Pascoe,3b 4 0 0 0 Ege,2b 1 0 0 0
Melton,1b 4 0 2 0 BraDouglas,ss 4 1 2 1
Tountas,ss 0 0 0 0 Lopez,rf 4 1 2 2
ASmith,ss/3b 2 0 1 0 Featherston,1b 1 0 0 0
Fleming,rf 4 0 0 0 BreDouglas,2b/lf 3 0 1 0
Robinson,dh 2 1 0 0 Johnson,ph 0 0 0 0
NSmith,cf 4 1 2 1 Almonte,c 4 0 1 0
Dailey,c 3 1 1 0 Hendrix,3b 3 0 0 0
Heithoff,1b 1 0 0 0 Ferguson,dh/lf 3 0 0 0
Totals 31 4 8 3 Totals 30 5 10 3
Evansville 040 000 000 — 4 8 0
Northern Iowa 100 001 03x — 5 10 0
DP - Evansville 2. LOB - Evansville 6, UNI 5. 2B - Melton 2 (5). SB - N. Smith (2); Lopez (3). CS - A. Smith (1). SH - Kuester, An. Smith.
PITCHING SUMMARY
Evansville IP H R ER BB SO
Foley 7.2 9 4 4 2 5
Carbonell (L, 0-2) 0.1 1 1 1 2 1
Northern Iowa IP H R ER BB SO
Fonseca (W, 5-0) 8.0 7 4 3 3 8
O’Leary 0.1 0 0 0 0 1
Gonzalez (S, 2) 0.2 1 0 0 0 0
WP - Carbonell 2; Fonseca. PB - Almonte.
HBP - by Fonseca (Robinson).
U - Don Umland (plate); Mike Droll (first); Matthew Moore (third).
T - 2:31. Att. - 202.
SECOND GAME
Evansville ab r h bi N. Iowa ab r h bi
Wallace,lf 3 0 1 0 Manrique,cf 4 2 1 0
Robinson,dh 3 1 1 1 Ferguson,cf 1 0 0 0
Pascoe,3b 4 0 1 0 Embury,lf 5 4 3 1
Melton,1b 3 1 1 1 Bra.Douglas,ss 5 4 5 4
ASmith,ss 4 1 2 0 Lopez,rf 5 1 2 4
NSmith,rf 1 0 0 0 Featherston,1b 4 1 2 2
Fleming,rf 2 1 0 0 Johnson,dh 2 0 0 0
Kuester,2b 4 0 1 1 Steichen,dh 2 0 1 0
Acheson,cf 4 0 0 1 Almonte,c 4 0 1 0
Gher,c 4 0 0 0 Hendrix,3b 5 2 2 0
Ege,2b 5 0 0 0
Totals 32 4 7 4 Totals 42 14 17 11
Evansville 100 003 00 — 4 7 2
Northern Iowa 330 220 31 — 14 17 2
E - Gher, Kuester; Bra. Douglas, Hendrix. DP - UNI 1. LOB - Evansville 8, UNI 10. 2B - Bra. Douglas 3 (11), Featherston (6), Steichen (1). 3B - Bra. Douglas (2). HR - Embury (4). SB - Manrique (5), Lopez 2 (5). SF - Acheson.
PITCHING SUMMARY
Evansville IP H R ER BB SO
Obenchain (L,0-2) 2.0 7 6 5 0 2
Davisson 1.1 3 2 1 0 1
McCabe 0.1 0 0 0 0 1
Kussmaul 1.0 3 2 2 1 2
Hudson 2.0 2 3 3 2 0
Page 0.1 1 0 0 1 0
Holcomb 0.2 1 1 1 0 0
Northern Iowa IP H R ER BB SO
Sinclair (W,2-1) 5.2 7 4 3 2 9
Flattery 2.1 0 0 0 0 1
WP - Obenchain 3, Page. Balk - Obenchain.
HBP - by Kussmaul (Manrique); by Sinclair (Wallace, Melton).
U - Moore (plate); Umland (first); Droll (third).
T - 3:00. Att. - 202.
MVC standings
Baseball
Conf. All
W L W L
Wichita State 3 0 19 3
Northern Iowa 3 0 13 9
Creighton 3 2 17 7
Missouri State 3 2 16 7
Southern Illinois 3 2 13 9
Bradley 3 2 10 11
Indiana State 2 3 6 14
Evansville 1 5 2 21
Illinois State 0 5 9 12
SATURDAY’S RESULTS
Northern Iowa 5-14, Evansville 4-4, 2nd game 8 inn.
Indiana State 16, Bradley 2
Creighton 15, Illinois State 6
S. Illinois 8, Missouri State 7
Wichita St. 6-8, N. Dakota St. 1-1
GAMES TODAY
Indiana State at Bradley
Illinois State at Creighton
Southern Illinois at Missouri State
N.D. State at Wichita State
Northern Iowa’s baseball team was both Saturday afternoon against Evansville.
The Panthers capitalized on two wild pitches to steal the opener, 5-4, then blasted 17 hits in the nightcap for a 14-4 rout in eight innings at a blustery Riverfront Stadium.
UNI, which has won nine of its last 10, swept the three-game series — its first Missouri Valley Conference sweep since 2005.
“That’s huge for us,” said pitcher Taylor Sinclair, who pitched 5 2/3 innings to earn the win in Game 2. “Starting out 3-0 gives us all the confidence in the world.”
Even though Evansville (2-21, 1-5 MVC) is the league’s worst hitting, pitching and fielding team statistically and 0-10 away from home, UNI (13-9, 3-0) is pleased to capture a league-opening series for the first time in six seasons.
“I’ve only won a couple series since I’ve been here, so to sweep right out of the gates is huge for our team,” shortstop Brandon Douglas said. “I think it’s going to be a great ride the rest of the season.”
Douglas came to the ballpark with a swollen right thumb and uncertain if he’d play. UNI’s all-conference infielder injured it fielding a sharp grounder the night before.
It had no impact on his production.
Douglas went 7-for-9 in the twinbill, including 5-for-5 in the second game with four runs scored, four RBIs and three doubles. He was a home run short of the cycle.
“I felt real comfortable in the box,” he said. “It looked like a softball coming in there. I was seeing it that well.”
The Panthers had five multiple-run innings in the second game against the Aces, who came in with a team ERA of 6.73. Dane Embury was 3-for-5 with a homer and four runs scored, while Chris Lopez had two hits and four RBIs.
“It was good to get a bunch of run support,” said Sinclair, who struck out nine and walked two. “It helped me go after them and just pound the zone.”
It came on the heels of a UNI comeback in Game 1.
Trailing 4-2 in the eighth inning, the Panthers strung together three runs with two outs.
After a run-scoring hit by Lopez made it 4-3 and a walk to Brett Featherston loaded the bases, UNI head coach Rick Heller elected to pinch-hit for Brett Douglas — at the time the team leader in RBIs. He brought in Kalvin Johnson, who had just one at-bat on the season.
“Brett is beating himself up a little bit with his confidence, and Kalvin had swung it pretty well in practice,” Heller said. “It was kind of a gut feeling.”
Johnson didn’t even have to swing the bat. Evansville closer J.R. Carbonell uncorked two wild pitches in the at-bat to allow the tying and eventual game-winning runs to score.
It marked the first time UNI had won a game this season trailing after six innings.
“We really needed that win,” Heller said. “If we’re going to make a run at this thing, we had to find a way to win that game.
“We took advantage of a team that is struggling and losing their confidence. You could see them tense up, and we’ve all been there on the other side of the coin.”
Guido Fonseca pitched eight innings to improve to 5-0. For the series, UNI’s pitching staff registered a 2.08 ERA and had 34 strikeouts versus six walks.
“The last two years, we’ve really struggled and given up too many free passes,” Heller said. “We’ve finally figured out we have to throw the ball over the plate.
“When we do, good things happen.”
NOTES: UNI plays host to Grand View College at 3 p.m. Wednesday before beginning a seven-game road swing Friday that includes trips to Indiana State, Minnesota and Illinois State. ... The Panthers have 49 hits in their last four games, raising their team average to .312. ... Bradley was the last MVC opponent UNI had swept, doing so May 13-15 in 2005.
Contact Matt Coss at (319) 291-1468 or matt.coss@wcfcourier.com
FIRST GAME
Evansville ab r h bi N. Iowa ab r h bi
Wallace,lf 4 1 1 0 Manrique,cf 4 3 3 0
Kuester,2b 3 0 1 2 Embury,lf 3 0 1 0
Pascoe,3b 4 0 0 0 Ege,2b 1 0 0 0
Melton,1b 4 0 2 0 BraDouglas,ss 4 1 2 1
Tountas,ss 0 0 0 0 Lopez,rf 4 1 2 2
ASmith,ss/3b 2 0 1 0 Featherston,1b 1 0 0 0
Fleming,rf 4 0 0 0 BreDouglas,2b/lf 3 0 1 0
Robinson,dh 2 1 0 0 Johnson,ph 0 0 0 0
NSmith,cf 4 1 2 1 Almonte,c 4 0 1 0
Dailey,c 3 1 1 0 Hendrix,3b 3 0 0 0
Heithoff,1b 1 0 0 0 Ferguson,dh/lf 3 0 0 0
Totals 31 4 8 3 Totals 30 5 10 3
Evansville 040 000 000 — 4 8 0
Northern Iowa 100 001 03x — 5 10 0
DP - Evansville 2. LOB - Evansville 6, UNI 5. 2B - Melton 2 (5). SB - N. Smith (2); Lopez (3). CS - A. Smith (1). SH - Kuester, An. Smith.
PITCHING SUMMARY
Evansville IP H R ER BB SO
Foley 7.2 9 4 4 2 5
Carbonell (L, 0-2) 0.1 1 1 1 2 1
Northern Iowa IP H R ER BB SO
Fonseca (W, 5-0) 8.0 7 4 3 3 8
O’Leary 0.1 0 0 0 0 1
Gonzalez (S, 2) 0.2 1 0 0 0 0
WP - Carbonell 2; Fonseca. PB - Almonte.
HBP - by Fonseca (Robinson).
U - Don Umland (plate); Mike Droll (first); Matthew Moore (third).
T - 2:31. Att. - 202.
SECOND GAME
Evansville ab r h bi N. Iowa ab r h bi
Wallace,lf 3 0 1 0 Manrique,cf 4 2 1 0
Robinson,dh 3 1 1 1 Ferguson,cf 1 0 0 0
Pascoe,3b 4 0 1 0 Embury,lf 5 4 3 1
Melton,1b 3 1 1 1 Bra.Douglas,ss 5 4 5 4
ASmith,ss 4 1 2 0 Lopez,rf 5 1 2 4
NSmith,rf 1 0 0 0 Featherston,1b 4 1 2 2
Fleming,rf 2 1 0 0 Johnson,dh 2 0 0 0
Kuester,2b 4 0 1 1 Steichen,dh 2 0 1 0
Acheson,cf 4 0 0 1 Almonte,c 4 0 1 0
Gher,c 4 0 0 0 Hendrix,3b 5 2 2 0
Ege,2b 5 0 0 0
Totals 32 4 7 4 Totals 42 14 17 11
Evansville 100 003 00 — 4 7 2
Northern Iowa 330 220 31 — 14 17 2
E - Gher, Kuester; Bra. Douglas, Hendrix. DP - UNI 1. LOB - Evansville 8, UNI 10. 2B - Bra. Douglas 3 (11), Featherston (6), Steichen (1). 3B - Bra. Douglas (2). HR - Embury (4). SB - Manrique (5), Lopez 2 (5). SF - Acheson.
PITCHING SUMMARY
Evansville IP H R ER BB SO
Obenchain (L,0-2) 2.0 7 6 5 0 2
Davisson 1.1 3 2 1 0 1
McCabe 0.1 0 0 0 0 1
Kussmaul 1.0 3 2 2 1 2
Hudson 2.0 2 3 3 2 0
Page 0.1 1 0 0 1 0
Holcomb 0.2 1 1 1 0 0
Northern Iowa IP H R ER BB SO
Sinclair (W,2-1) 5.2 7 4 3 2 9
Flattery 2.1 0 0 0 0 1
WP - Obenchain 3, Page. Balk - Obenchain.
HBP - by Kussmaul (Manrique); by Sinclair (Wallace, Melton).
U - Moore (plate); Umland (first); Droll (third).
T - 3:00. Att. - 202.
MVC standings
Baseball
Conf. All
W L W L
Wichita State 3 0 19 3
Northern Iowa 3 0 13 9
Creighton 3 2 17 7
Missouri State 3 2 16 7
Southern Illinois 3 2 13 9
Bradley 3 2 10 11
Indiana State 2 3 6 14
Evansville 1 5 2 21
Illinois State 0 5 9 12
SATURDAY’S RESULTS
Northern Iowa 5-14, Evansville 4-4, 2nd game 8 inn.
Indiana State 16, Bradley 2
Creighton 15, Illinois State 6
S. Illinois 8, Missouri State 7
Wichita St. 6-8, N. Dakota St. 1-1
GAMES TODAY
Indiana State at Bradley
Illinois State at Creighton
Southern Illinois at Missouri State
N.D. State at Wichita State
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