DeKALB, IL – Fresh off an eight-game homestand, the Northern Illinois University baseball team goes on the road this weekend for a four-game series against the Eastern Michigan Eagles. The series begins on Friday night at 5 p.m.
 
On Saturday, the two teams will play a seven-inning doubleheader beginning at 3 p.m. The Huskies and Eagles wrap up the series on Sunday at 12 p.m.
 
NIU (12-30, 11-17 MAC) went 5-3 against Akron and Western Michigan during the most recent homestand at Ralph McKinzie Field. The Huskies outscored the Zips and Broncos 55-38, hitting .342 as a team. The trio of catcher Jake Dunham (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield North), shortstop Dylan Lonteen (Peoria, Ill./Illinois Central College) and designated hitter Kam Smith (Colonial Beach, Va./The Steward School) have combined for 38 hits over the last eight games, with 14 going for extra bases including five home runs.
 
Dunham was named the Mid-American Conference Player of the Week on Monday after hitting .600 with five RBI against Western Michigan last weekend. He hit two home runs in the series while driving in five runs total in the four games. Dunham is currently on an 11-game hitting streak, during which he is hitting .556 with four doubles and four home runs. He enters the weekend second in the MAC in doubles with 15, fourth in slugging percentage at .586, and fifth in batting average at .359.
 
On the mound, the Huskies have gotten a lift from senior right-hander Ryan Anderson (Palatine, Ill./McHenry C.C.). Anderson is 2-0 over his last two starts with a 2.77 earned run average. On May 1, the senior allowed two runs on six hits with a walk and three strikeouts in an 11-2 Huskies win. Last Saturday Anderson threw his first complete game, once again allowing just two runs on three hits with four strikeouts as NIU beat Western Michigan 5-2.
 
Eastern Michigan (18-20, 12-15) split a doubleheader with Toledo on Tuesday at Oestrike Stadium, winning game one 6-0 before dropping the nightcap 10-2. The Eagles swept their four-game series at Bowling Green last weekend with two shutouts. Eastern Michigan, as a team, is fourth in the MAC with a team ERA of 4.59. Davis Feldman is fourth in the MAC individually with a 2.44 ERA.
 
Following this weekend, NIU closes out its home slate with a four-game series against the Toledo Rockets at Ralph McKinzie Field May 21-23.
 
--NIU--