Tony Manville
Northern Illinois baseball tallied 11 hits against No. 24 Oregon State at the Kansas City Royals Practice Field Three Sunday afternoon and scored three runs in the top of the fifth.
However, the Huskies left 12 runners on base and fell to the Beavers, 11-3.
“Tony Manville worked hard on the mound today,” said skipper Ed Mathey.
“Oregon State got to him a little bit at the beginning, but he collected himself and did some good things for us. At the plate, if we leave 12 runners on-base, it’s always going to be a long day.”
OSU (8-4) opened with three runs in the bottom of the first inning and added another in the third to increase its lead, 4-0. The Huskies threatened in the fourth after a Jeff Zimmerman (Tinley Park, Ill./Victor J Andrew) walk and a double by Connor Duckhorn (Darien, Ill./Hinsdale South) that advanced Zimmerman to third. Alex Beckmann (Batavia, Ill.) would strikeout on the ensuing at-bat to end the inning.
The following tilt, NIU found its groove when Jordan Rishavy (Rochester, Minn./John Marshall) singled and scored on an RBI double by Jamison Wells (Combined Locks, Wis./Kimberly).
Alex Jones
The Huskies would continue to prosper on a single by Jordan Huffman (Sergaent Bluff, Iowa), an RBI single by Alex Jones (Kansas City, Kan./Piper) and a catcher interference call on Zimmerman that loaded for Northern Illinois. Duckhorn walked and sent Huffman home for the final run of the inning.
In the bottom of the sixth, Oregon State punched five runs on the scoreboard and tallied two more in the seventh to increase its lead, 11-3.
Northern Illinois would leave five runners on-base in its final four innings and were unable to score the runs needed to overcome its eight run deficit.
On the mound, Manville pitched 5.1 innings and tallied three strikeouts including one batter looking at a called strike three. He earned his second loss of the season. Rishavy was perfect at the plate, going 3-for-3 with one run scored.
The Huskies (0-11) will return to the diamond March 9 to take on Austin Peay in Clarksville, Tenn. First pitch is slated for 2:30 p.m.
For more information on NIU baseball and Huskie athletics, visit www.niuhuskies.com.
