DEKALB – The NIU baseball team (12-26, 6-6 MAC) will be back at Ralph McKinzie Field in DeKalb on Tuesday for the start of a four-game homestand against Minnesota (23-12, 8-4 Big Ten).
The Huskies are coming off of a partial sweep of Evansville as they won two games over the weekend with the third being cancelled due to heavy rain on Saturday. NIU pitchers combined to give up only three runs in 18 innings over the weekend with starters
Joe Hawks and
Donovin Sims each giving quality starts and relievers
George Faue,
Ryne Blanton and
Andrew Frankenreider shutting the door in each game.
On the mound for NIU on Tuesday will be freshman righty
Nathan Thomas for his first start in a midweek game this season. Thomas has a 5.28 ERA in 30.2 innings with his last start coming over a week ago against Kent State at home, where he only pitched an inning with control issues.
The Huskies are hoping to find their way on the mound in midweek games after giving up 17 runs in each of their last two midweek games. The home run ball has been a big factor as NIU pitchers gave up four against Indiana State last week and three against UIC two weeks ago.
Minnesota will send a freshman righty to the mound as well in Nolan Burchill who is 2-2 in six starts with a 4.57 ERA. Burchill's numbers suggest that he is a "pitch to contact" guy as he has only 13 strikeouts and eight walks in 21.2 innings of work this season for the Gophers.
The hottest hitter for NIU over the last month has been junior left fielder
Joe Jumonville who is hitting .362 over the last 18 games, currently has a seven-game hitting streak and has gotten on base an NIU season-high 19-straight games for the Huskies. Boosting his batting average to .309, which is second highest on the team, Jumonville is also getting on base at a .399 clip, also second highest on the team in 35 games played.
On defense the Huskies' outfield combination of Jumonville in left,
Roderick Bynum in center and
Jason Gasser in right sports a combined .991 fielding percentage. Jumonville has yet to make an error this season with a 1.000 fielding percentage with Bynum and Gasser only making one each for a .991 and .981 fielding percentage respectively with Bynum having more chances in center field.
Minnesota at the plate is hitting for a .291 team batting average in 2017 with 24 home runs on the year. Outfielders Alex Boxwell and Jordan Smith along with catcher/outfielder Matt Stemper each tie for the team lead with five home runs on the season. Their leading hitter with over 100 at-bats is infielder Luke Peterson hitting .333 on the year.
After Tuesday's game, NIU baseball will return to Mid-American Conference play this weekend at the Ralph with a three-game series against Ball State. Game times are subject to change so keep an eye on niuhuskies.com and Twitter @NIU_Baseball for any schedule updates.
