Jones takes shot to throat

Without hesitation, NIU shortstop Alex Jones summed up the strange yet delightful eighth inning of Saturday's win against Miami (OH).

"That was the weirdest inning I've ever been a part of," Jones said.

The strange inning started when NIU skipper Ed Mathey brought in Tony Manville in relief of starting pitcher Tom Barry. With a 5-3 lead, Manville got off to a rough start by surrendering back-to-back singles to Miami's Adam Weisenburger and Kyle Weldon.

The RedHawks brought in pinch hitter Kevin Bower, who would deliver with a sacrifice fly to cut the Huskies' lead to 5-4.

"[Tony] was just a little up in the zone there, hitting them pretty good," Mathey said.

Manville was then relieved by closer Kyle Glancy, who came into a pickle of a situation with the tying run on first base.

From there, it was an array of bizarre moments in the infield of Ralph McKinzie Field.

Glancy delivered a 1-1 pitch to Miami's Brad Gschwind, where the ball looked like it was going to hit him. Instead, Gschwind brushed away from the pitch, but the ball still made contact with his bat and dribbled down the third-base line. NIU and Miami's dugouts yelled to let the players know the ball was fair.

"All of a sudden we get the ball out into fair territory, and I'm thinking, ‘Okay, we're going to get a break on this,'" Mathey said.

Mathey's feeling of relief would quickly turn into stress.

Glancy made a play on the unattended ball, but his throw went as an error as it forced first baseman Joe Etcheverry off the base, which allowed the tying run to advance to third.

The Red Hawks' Marcus Makuch would be next to bat, and Jones was a part of play that he'll likely never forget. Makuch hit a grounder to Jones, and the ball would bounce off Jones' neck to second baseman Alex Klonowski. Off of Jones' jugular, Klonowski relayed the ball to Etcheverry at first for the 6-4-3 double play to get out of the inning.

"[Alex Klonowski] made a very good, one motion catch and throw to get the double play," Mathey said.

Jones' wasn't aware that his uncanny assist would get the Huskies out of the inning, as he was grimacing from the after effects of being hit by the ball.

"Honestly, I had no idea what was going on," Jones said. "I was like, ‘Oh well, that guy scored.' And then I all the sudden I turned and looked, and Joe [Etcheverry] is yelling."