Central Michigan University Athletics
Central Michigan University
Northern Illinois
Baseball Slugs Out 17-5 Win at Northern Illinois
4/22/2006 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 22, 2006
DeKALB, Ill. - Ben Humphrey homered twice and drove in five runs to lead Central Michigan University to a 17-5 Mid-American Conference baseball win at Northern Illinois on Saturday.
Humphrey led off the fourth with a solo homer, doubled in the fifth and drilled a two-out grand slam in the sixth that blew the game open.
At least one Chippewa crossed the plate in each of the final seven innings as CMU put 17 runs on the scoreboard for the second time in three games.
Humphrey's grand slam was the exclamation point of a five-run sixth inning that saw the Chippewas (24-16 overall, 10-4 MAC) stretch their lead to 9-1. After Scott Szpyrka led off the inning with a strikeout, Cody Allen reached on an error and James Teas beat out an infield single. A double steal put the pair in scoring position and following a Brian Campbell fly out, J.T. Jones was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Brandon Copp was summoned from the Huskie bullpen, but he hit the first batter he faced (Troy Moratti) to force in Allen.
NIU (18-20, 7-7) again went to the bullpen, calling on Dave Nykiel, but he served up Humphrey's grand slam, as well as an additional walk and a single, before getting out of the inning.
Run-scoring singles by Jones and Mitzel, as well as a two-RBI double by Moratti, stretched the CMU lead to 13-1 in the seventh. Bobby Stevens and Scott Simon homered in a four-run seventh for NIU, but the Chippewas tacked on four runs over the final two innings, only one of which was earned, to win going away.
Josh Collmenter pitched into the seventh inning to improve to 4-4 for CMU. He allowed three earned on three hits and struck out three Huskie hitters. Trevor Feeney (3-3) took the loss, surrendering seven runs (four earned) on eight hits in 5-2/3 innings. Only nine of the 17 runs surrendered by five NIU pitchers on Saturday were earned.
Humphrey's three-hit game was his seventh of the season, while his five RBI were a season-high. Jones finished 3-for-6, his sixth multi-hit game in the last eight outings, and scored three times. Noah Lankford was also 3-for-5 with a double. Moratti was only 1-for-5, but managed to drive in four runs and score three times himself.
Simon and Jeff Thomas both had three hits to pace the Northern Illinois offense.
The final game of the three-game series is set for 2 p.m. Eastern Time on Sunday.
