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March 17, 2007

Box Score

PANTHERS OUTSMART YALE, WIN 9-7

CLEARWATER, Fla. - Two costly errors and Dane Embury's second straight 4-5 game gave the University of Northern Iowa baseball team a 9-7 win over Yale. Embury raised his team-leading average to .429 in the win.

The teams traded scoreless opening frames, but the Panthers took a 1-0 lead in the second when Travis Hendrix (Sonora, Calif./Sonora) drove in Brett Featherston (Epworth, Iowa/Western Dubuque) with an RBI single. The Bulldogs notched a run in the last of the second to knot the game 1-1 heading into the third.

Deric Manrique (Sioux City, Iowa/North) connected for an RBI single to center to score Gabe Schultz (Lansing, Iowa/Kee) and give UNI a 2-1 advantage. Manrique stole second and scored on a perfectly executed hit-and-run with Embury (Kelowna, British Colombia/Kelowna). Embury poked a 2-1 offering through the right side, allowing Manrique to score from second and give the Panthers a 3-1 lead.

Three runs in Bulldog fourth knocked starter Guido Fonseca (East Covina, Calif.) out of the game and gave Yale a 4-3 lead through four.

The Panthers took advantage of two key Bulldog miscues to tie the game and later take the lead in the following half-inning. Schultz tied the game when he crossed the plate on a wild pitch thrown during an intentional walk of Featherston, and Embury scored to take the lead on a dropped pop fly to the shortstop that would have ended the inning. The Panthers added two more on a Jordan Kraayenbrink (Decorah, Iowa/Decorah) two-run single to exit the inning with a 7-4 lead.

Embury scored after tallying his third hit of the game in the seventh. Featherston drove in the Panther right fielder with a bounding single up the middle, adding another run to the UNI total and giving the Panthers a 8-4 lead.

Yale tallied a run in the last of the seventh, but Taylor Sinclair (Indianola, Iowa/Indianola) regained composure to record three straight outs and escape the inning with an 8-5 Panther lead intact.

One more run in the eighth brought the Panther lead to 9-5. Curt Bradley (Columbia, Mo./Rock Bridge) knocked in Jeremy Weih (Wilton, Iowa/Wilton) to give UNI a four-run advantage.

The Bulldogs rallied in the ninth, loading the bases and scoring two to pull within two runs. With the go-ahead run at the plate, Bryan Westphal (Dubuque, Iowa/Hempstead) forced a flyout to right to slam the door on the Bulldog rally and secure the 9-7 victory.

Embury led the offense with his second straight 4-5 showing. The effort raised his already team-leading average to .429 and brought his week-long average to .600. Featherston finished 2-4 with two runs scored and Kraayenbrink ended the game 1-4 with two RBIs.

Adam McDermott (Cascade, Iowa/Cascade) earned the win after taking over for Fonseca in the fourth. The win puts his record at 1-0 on the season. Sinclair threw into the ninth after taking the ball from McDermott to start the fifth. The lefty scattered six hits and allowed three runs while striking out five. Westphal earned his second save of the year for his efforts in the ninth.

UNI moves to 9-8 on the season after posting a 5-2 record in Florida. Yale is now 5-6 overall.

The Panthers return to Iowa for their home-opener against Loras College Wednesday, March 21. First pitch is at 3 pm at Riverfront Stadium in Waterloo.