DeKALB, IL – The Northern Illinois University baseball team opens the 2020 season Friday afternoon against Boston College in Winter Haven, Fla. The Huskies are looking to build upon a successful 2019 campaign which saw NIU reach the Mid-American Conference Tournament for the third time in four years and won two games at the tournament for the first time since 2008.
 
NIU was 20-32 in 2019, going 14-12 in league play to finish fifth. The Huskies won four conference series with sweeps of Eastern Michigan and Ohio and were only swept once. NIU reached the semifinals of the MAC Tournament before an extra-innings loss to Ball State ended the Huskies' postseason run. With three seniors graduated from last year's team and a wealth of experience returning, the Huskies are primed for another run at the MAC championship. In the MAC Preseason Coaches' Poll released on Wednesday, NIU was picked to finish fifth with one first-place vote and another vote to win the MAC Tournament.
 
"We have a good club and a lot of at-bats and innings on the mound back," said sixth-year head coach Mike Kunigonis. "We're definitely a veteran club. The pieces that we brought in are here to compliment what we already have and to compete for some other jobs. Having depth has stepped up the competition within the group which breeds success. We're hoping that what's going to put us over the top this year overall."
 
NIU returns its top seven hitters from 2019, led by senior catcher Jake Dunham (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield North) who led NIU with four home runs, 43 walks, and a .429 on-base percentage. Dunham hit .278 with a slugging percentage of .403 while playing all 56 games last season. He had an 18-game streak of consecutively reaching base from April 19 to May 23. Behind the plate, Dunham led the MAC with 30 runners caught stealing.
 
"Jake means a lot to the program and he knows how things should be done," Kunigonis said of the senior backstop. "He's our guy behind the plate, but we have three other guys [Morgan Holmes, Bryce Walker, Jacob Schroeder] that are pushing him behind him and will be able to give him a breather so he doesn't have to catch every game. I think that is going to help his overall game."
 
The Huskies also return senior outfielder Brendan Joyce (South Elgin, Ill./Parkland College) who had a team-best .298 batting average in 2019 and sophomore Nick Drobushevich (Moline, Ill./Moline) who hit .285 as a freshman with a team-high 44 RBI and 15 stolen bases. Drobushevich hit .356 in conference games last season with 26 RBI and had a 12-game hitting streak from April 3-21. Senior infielder Tommy Szczasny (Tinley Park, Ill./Lincoln Way North) also had a 12-game hitting streak last season, hitting .280 with 35 walks and 11 stolen bases. He finished the year on an 11-game hitting streak, earning a spot on the MAC All-Tournament Team after hitting .538 with an .846 slugging percentage in four games. His three-run home run with two outs in the seventh inning helped vault NIU to a 6-3 elimination game victory over Ohio.
 
"We have a very solid ballclub," said Kunigonis. "You look at what we can do and what we're going to do and we're going to be very solid at everything. We got a lot of guys that can contribute a lot. I haven't been on a team or had a team that's been this solid up and down the roster. We've got a lot of guys that can do a lot of great things for us."
 
The Huskies' pitching staff will be anchored by junior right-hander Michael Lasiewicz (McHenry, Ill./McHenry), who led NIU with six wins, a 3.94 ERA and 77 strikeouts in 75.1 innings pitched. Lasiewicz threw NIU's first complete game shutout in five seasons in the Huskies' opening game of the MAC Tournament, allowing two hits and one walk while striking out eight Miami RedHawks in a 4-0 victory. He was named to the MAC All-Tournament Team for that effort. Lasiewicz had five starts of at least six innings and three runs or less allowed in conference play.
 
"We should be very good on the mound from a starting pitching standpoint," Kunigonis said. "We're expecting great things from Lasiewicz this year. Junior college transfer Brandon McPherson has been fantastic. Erik Hedmark and Ryan Anderson have been throwing really well, along with freshman Connor Langreder. Those five guys have been really fighting it out to see who gets the nod in the first four games."
 
NIU's bullpen returns a good number of arms, including senior Nate Thomas (South Bend, Ind./Mishawaka Marian) who had a team-high five saves in 2019 along with a 4-2 record. Thomas had 41 strikeouts in 34.2 innings pitched last season. Junior left-hander Kyle Seebach (Rochelle, Ill./Rochelle Township) had 36 strikeouts in 34.2 innings in 2019. Tristan Michaels (Barrington, Ill./Triton College) had 35 punchouts in 22 appearances in his first season at NIU last year.
 
"There are a lot of innings out there and these guys have been in some big spots," said Kunigonis. "The foundation's been laid. It's up to the guys to step up and we believe they're going to get it done. It's our job as coaches to put them in positions to be successful."
 
The Huskies will get a good look at what they have on Friday when they open their season against a Boston College team that was 31-27 in 2019 and went 2-1 in the Atlantic Coast Conference baseball tournament. NIU also has non-conference dates with Missouri of the SEC and Omaha, UIC, and Illinois State which all played in NCAA Regionals last season.
 
"We like to play tough competition to see where we're at and to get battle-tested for league play," Kunigonis said on his scheduling philosophy. "We're not scared to play anybody. We're going out there this weekend to play an ACC school in Boston College who returns a lot. They're pretty much us in the ACC from the standpoint of having a great run at the end of the year and played really well."
 
NIU will play 18 home games this season at Ralph McKinzie Field, beginning with a three-game series against defending MAC champions Central Michigan March 20-22.
 
--NIU--