Ball State University
Northern Illinois
Baseball Defeats Northern Illinois 9-1
May 09, 2009 | Baseball
DEKALB, Ill. ? On a windy Saturday afternoon, Ball State's baseball team rode the arm of starting pitcher Brenden Stines in a 9-1 win at Northern Illinois to improve to 23-21 overall and 11-10 in the Mid-American Conference.
With four games remaining in the MAC regular season, Toledo maintained first place in the West Division with a 14-9 mark after defeating Eastern Michigan 6-5. A Western Michigan win over Central Michigan Saturday puts EMU and CMU in a tie for third with identical 10-13 records. Ball State stays in second place with one game left at Northern Illinois and then a home three game series with the first place Rockets. Stines improved to 3-4 with the win after pitching seven innings, allowing only three hits and striking out 11 batters. He allowed his only run in the second inning. Aaron Hammons relieved Stines in the eighth and held the Huskies hitless and scoreless. Scott Brothers Jr. came on to close the game in the ninth, registering a strike out, a foul out and a fly out to left to end the game. Offensively, Ball State managed five runs in the first four innings and never trailed in the second game of the series. Zach Dygert went 3-for-5 with three runs-batted-in and two runds scored. Ian Nielsen managed two hits and two RBI, while Kory Benbow tallied two hits, two runs scored and one RBI. After a scoreless first inning of play, Ball State was first on the scoreboard when a wild pitch plated Benbow from third after his 10th double of the season started the Cardinals second inning offense. The Huskies responded in their half of the second after a Ball State error, followed by an NIU base hit evened the score at 1-1. Ball State's offense kept the bats alive in the third inning after Kolbrin Vitek led off with an infield single, and Dygert's single advanced Vitek to third. Nielsen's sacrifice fly to right field plated Vitek to put the Cardinals back in the lead 2-1. Benbow laced a line drive single to left, scoring Dygert and Ball State's lead increased to 3-1. A throwing error by NIU's catcher on a pickoff attempt allowed Benbow to score from second and the Cardinals led 4-1. Ball State added another in the fourth inning on a Dygert ground out that scored Jeremy Hazelbaker and put the Cardinals ahead 5-1. The Cardinals put an end to a three inning scoreless stretch when Dygert and Nielsen hit back-to-back homeruns in the top half of the eighth to put Ball State ahead 7-1. The solos shots marked Dygert's seventh HR of the year, while Nielsen hit his eighth homerun of the season. The ninth inning saw Fields walk to lead off the inning, followed by a single from pinch hitter Nathan Koontz. A Ball State double steal plated Fields after the NIU catcher's throw went into centerfield. Dygert singled to score Koontz and Ball State's lead grew to 9-1. Ball State and Northern Illinois will play the third and final game of the series Sunday at 1 p.m. (CT). The Cardinals will then play a double header at Michigan Tuesday in a non-conference contest before hosting MAC West Division leader Toledo in a three-game series Thursday through Saturday at Ball Diamond.
