Baseball | April 6

DeKALB, IL - The Northern Illinois University baseball team opens an eight-game homestand this weekend when it hosts the Central Michigan Chippewas for a three-game series starting Friday at 3 p.m. at Ralph McKinzie Field at Walt and Janice Owens Park.
 
Friday's game is Sandlot Day in honor of the film The Sandlot. There will also be a raffle for a Bluetooth speaker. Saturday's 1 p.m. game is Scouts Day and Baseball Bingo. On Sunday, NIU will host Family Day and hold a postgame egg hunt with Victor E. Huskie.
 
NIU (5-22, 2-7 MAC) is playing its second series on the new artificial turf infield at the renovated Ralph McKinzie Field at Walt and Janice Owens Park. The Huskies took the final game of its series against Ohio on March 26 11-1 in seven innings. NIU is coming off a 6-3 loss at UIC on Tuesday night. Senior outfielder Malik Peters (Calumet City, Ill./Mount Carmel) extended his current hitting streak to seven games with a 2-for-3 night with two runs batted in. He is hitting .375 over the last seven games, slugging .625.
 
Junior outfielder Eric Erato (Sussex, Wis./Sussex Hamilton) enters the weekend among the top 20 base stealers in the nation. Erato is 17^th in the country, and second in the Mid-American Conference, in stolen bases with 18. He has stolen seven bases in the last nine games. Erato is also third in the league with 24 walks.
 
Central Michigan (15-12, 5-4 MAC) are the defending MAC champions and are coming off a 6-3 win at Oakland this past Tuesday. The Chippewas dropped two of three games against Bowling Green last weekend at Keilitz Field at Theunissen Stadium. Central Michigan is second in the MAC in team earned run average at 4.73. Junior pitcher Keegan Batka is tied for the MAC lead in wins with four. Reliever Ryan Palmblad leads the Chippewas with a 2.37 ERA, 38 strikeouts and four saves.
 
The Huskies host Western Michigan next weekend. NIU will hold a formal dedication of the renovated Ralph McKinzie Field at Walt and Janice Owens Park prior to first pitch of the 12 p.m. game on Sunday, April 16.
 
--NIU--