Baseball | December 13

DeKALB, Ill. – Northern Illinois University head baseball coach Ryan Copeland announced the Huskies' 2024 schedule on Wednesday. NIU will play 21 home games at Ralph McKinzie Field at Walt and Janice Owens Park beginning with a Mid-American Conference series against Miami March 22-24.
 
"We believe our non-conference schedule will not only prepare us for conference play, but ultimately postseason games into late May and early June," said Copeland. "Our first three road weekends will be incredibly challenging. It will be a great opportunity for our program to compete against other high level programs, including the defending national champions LSU."
 
The Huskies open the season with a four-game series at Abilene Christian Feb. 16-18. The Wildcats are the first of six opponents for NIU this season that won at least 35 games in 2023. NIU heads to Baton Rouge, La. the following weekend for two games against defending national champions LSU and two against Northwestern State. The Huskies take on LSU on Thursday, Feb. 22, followed by a doubleheader against the Tigers and Northwestern State on Feb. 23. NIU wraps up the weekend against Northwestern State on Feb. 24.
 
NIU takes on Iowa on Feb. 27 in Iowa City. The Hawkeyes were 44-16 last season and reached the NCAA Regionals. The Huskies go to Cincinnati March 1-3 for a four-game set against the Bearcats, then open MAC play at Ohio March 8-10. NIU's second conference series takes place March 15-17 at Akron after a midweek matchup at Purdue.
 
The Huskies' final road test before it's home opening series will be at Illinois State on March 20. Copeland played for the Redbirds from 2007-10 and began his coaching career at Illinois State in 2014. The Redbirds will come to DeKalb on April 17. NIU will also play a home-and-home series with Eastern Illinois, going to Charleston on March 26 before hosting the Panthers on April 9. EIU went 38-21 last year and won the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament.
 
NIU opens a six-game homestand on April 2 against St. Thomas followed by a matchup with UIC on April 3. Bowling Green comes to DeKalb for a MAC series April 5-7. The Huskies head to Champaign, Ill. for the first time since 2016 for a three-game series against the Fighting Illini April 12-14. NIU returns home for a five-game homestand April 17-23. Midweek games against Illinois State and Valparaiso (April 23) bookend a weekend set against Kent State April 19-21. The Golden Flashes won the MAC regular season title last year and finished the year 42-16.
 
The Huskies close the year with seven of their last 10 games at home. NIU hosts defending MAC champions Ball State May 3-5, Milwaukee on May 14 and Eastern Michigan May 16-18 on the final weekend of the regular season.
 
The MAC Baseball Championship will be held at Mercy Health Stadium in Avon, Ohio May 21-26.
 
--NIU--