Baseball shuts out NIU 11-0 behind Taylor's strong start
On a cold cloudy Saturday afternoon, the mood was anything but dreary for the Chippewas.
In their second game of their series with Northern Illinois, Chippewas humbled the Huskies in a seven inning 11-0 shut out.
CMU (16-10, 11-1) won their sixth consecutive game while NIU (6-23, 6-10) struggled to find any success on either side of the ball.
Since their first meeting in 1951 the Chippewas have taken 92 games out of 138 from the Huskies.
The way the Chippewas played could only be described as a coach’s dream. They racked up 11 hits, six walks, five doubles, five stolen bases, two triples and one homerun.
CMU scored in all but three innings and runs came in early. It all started with CMU’s leadoff hitter Mario Camilletti earning a patented walk in the first Chippewa at-bat of the game. Camilletti now ranks top 20 in the nation in on-base percentage and base-on-balls and finished the day with two walks, two runs and one RBI off a sacrifice fly.
The Chippewas accumulated two scores in the first with three walks and two hits leaving two men on base. The second inning saw eight Chippewa at-bats with two runs, off three walks, one double and two-stolen bases.
But the bats weren’t the only thing working for the Chippewas as CMU right hander Andrew Taylor got the start and had the Huskies in awe.
Taylor set the defensive tone with two early strikeouts in the first that’d be a warning for the rest of NIU’s lineup.
In a career day Taylor posted a career high 11 strikeouts in five scoreless innings of work. He followed up by three punchouts in the second and two each in the third, fourth and fifth. He’d allowed only two hits, two walks on 80 pitches bringing his season ERA to 2.41 and notching his fourth win of the year.
In the middle of the fourth with two men on base CMU first baseman Danny Wuestenfeld sent a deep bomb out to left field for his third homerun of the season that’d put the Chippewas up 7-0. He’d finish with two runs, two hits, four RBI’s, one walk and one stolen base.
But another Chippewa had a career day in right fielder Jakob Marsee. He had four career highs with four hits on four at-bats, two doubles, one triple and three runs.
The bottom of the fifth was yet another batting and baserunning clinic with nine Chippewa batters faced, four runs off five hits, one walk and two stolen bases.
CMU sophomore Clayton Brock came in to relive Taylor in the top of the sixth for a quick “one, two, three” inning with one strikeout. To close out the game CMU freshman Michael Conte allowed only one hit on four faced batters to seal the deal.
The Chippewas finish the series against the Huskies in a doubleheader at 12 p.m. and 3 p.m. tomorrow at Theunissan Stadium.
