THE NEED TO KNOWS
NIU (2-9) @ Iowa (6-4)
Iowa City, Iowa | Duane Banks Field
Friday - 3:05 p.m.
Live Stats: hawkeyesports.com
Video: BTN Plus
Audio: hawkeyesports.com
 
DEKALB - The NIU baseball team (2-9) will head out to Iowa to face the Hawkeyes (6-4) for their first scheduled mid-week match-up of the 2017 season. The Huskies will give the ball to senior Aaron Rumfield and Iowa will turn to Grant Judkins.
 
Rumfield will make his first start of the season after three appearances out of the bullpen in the first three weeks of the season. The Lubbock, Texas native hasn't given up a run yet this season in five and a third innings pitch, giving up three hits and one walk with two strikeouts.
 
Judkins has two appearances and one start on the year with a 1-0 record and a 2.25 ERA. In only four innings pitched, he's given up three hits and two walks with four strikeouts. The Hawkeyes are led offensively by Robert Neustrom, who's hitting .381 with two home runs, eight RBIs and six runs scored in ten starts.
 
The Huskies are coming off of a 0-4 weekend in Edwardsville, dropping the first three games by two runs and the series finale by one run. NIU's offense seemed to pick up over the last weekend, outhitting the Cougars in the first three games and cracking ten extra base hits with four home runs in four games.
 
Junior Roderick Bynum accounted for four of the Huskies' extra base hits as he smoked two doubles, a triple and a home run in four games. His home run came as the second of back-to-back shots Sunday afternoon, after Jacob Dunham had gotten the Huskies on the board the previous at bat with his first career home run.
 
Junior Joe Jumonville also had a big weekend offensively, after not starting the first two games the Munster, Ind. native reached base seven times with five hits including a solo home run of his own in Saturday's second game. Brad Wood hit his first home run of the season as he hit a solo shot in the same inning as Jumonville's solo shot.
 
Wood became part of NIU history on Saturday as well when he helped turn the first triple play in the program's existence. With runners on first and second, Wood caught a line drive up the middle, which took him to second base to tag the bag for the second out then he threw over to Tommy Hook at first for the final out.
 
NIU got a quality start Sunday afternoon from Donovin Sims who threw six innings, giving up two runs on six hits with a career high nine strikeouts. Sims also did not walk a batter and was left with a no decision after the Huskies had tied the game in the seventh.
 
Tuesday's game can be streamed on the Big Ten Network's streaming service BTN Plus, which can be watch with a subscription to the service. The game audio will also be streamed on Iowa's website.
 
After this trip west, the Huskies will head back south for a three-game weekend series against Saint Louis University. HuskieBall fans can follow the team on Instagram @niu_baseball and on twitter @NIU_Baseball.