Feb. 15, 2012
The Northern Illinois baseball team, coming off of a 30-27 season and tying for second in the MAC West (16-11), is looking to build off the foundation raised last season and has its sights set on a MAC Championship and NCAA Regional berth in 2012.
"Our goal every year is to win the MAC West and qualify for the Mid-American Conference Tournament and make a deep run in that" said Head Coach Ed Mathey. "This team has taken that a step further and you hear the internal talk amongst the players about winning a MAC title. There's obviously a lot of excitement around the Northern Illinois athletic department with the great job our fall sports teams have done and we have a high-level of enthusiasm.
"It's important for us to settle in to the fact that (we have) a 56-game schedule, that we have 14-weeks of playing and we have to continue to improve, continue to stay healthy and I think these guys understand that."
Northern Illinois returns seven starting players in the field, two starting pitchers and its closer. The Huskies also return many award winners in 2012 in senior Alex Jones (first team all-region and All-MAC), sophomore Jeff Zimmerman (freshman all-america, all-region and MAC Freshman of the Year) and seniors Troy White and Tony Manville, who were second team All-Mid American Conference. On Jan. 31 senior Kyle Glancy was named the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Preseason Stopper of the Year watch list.
In its first 20 contests, all of which are on the road, NIU plays three top-25 opponents in No. 11 St. John's, No. 17 Arizona State and No. 24 Oregon State. The Huskies also take on five opponents who are receiving votes in the polls in Austin Peay, Illinois, Tennessee, Texas Tech and Winthrop.
NIU will begin its season Friday Feb. 17 at Tennessee with the first pitch at 3 p.m. Central time. All three games in the Huskies-Volunteers series can be viewed for free at UTSports.com/allaccess. It will be the first matchup between these two teams. All-time the Huskies are 5-16 against SEC opponents, with its last win at Mississippi State in 2009.
