Baseball | February 12

DeKALB, IL – After setting four single-season records last season, the Northern Illinois University baseball team opens its 2026 season on Friday with the first of three games this weekend at North Carolina A&T. First Pitch at World War Memorial Stadium is set for 2 p.m. CT.
 
Head Coach Ryan Copeland returns 13 letterwinners for his third season in the Huskies' dugout. That group includes three of NIU's top five hitters by batting average from 2025 along with three pitchers that threw at least 40 innings.
 
Offensively, NIU had it's most productive run-scoring season in program history in 2025. The Huskies scored a record 416 runs with 382 runs batted in. NIU slugged a program record 82 home runs, blasting by the previous record of 70 set back in 2003.
 
"Our goal is always to be dangerous, relentless and complete," said Copeland. "We checked off a few of those boxes last season. We did some really good things, but there are some things we need to improve. We looked to add some more complete hitters throughout the lineup and we have to cut down on the strikeouts. That foundation is what we need to help out our defense and pitching staff."
 
Senior first baseman Gavin Baldwin looks to lead NIU at the plate. Baldwin was named a Preseason Top 50 First Basemen in the nation by D1 Baseball last week. He was one of NIU's two All-Mid-American Conference Second Team selections in 2025. Baldwin was second on the team with a .322 batting average, 15 home runs, 18 doubles and 57 RBI. He also had a .644 slugging percentage and an .415 on-base percentage.
 
"A big point of emphasis all fall for Gavin was to cut down on the strikeouts, making sure he did a better job with swing decisions ahead in the count. Rather than let teams use his aggressiveness against him, we're just getting him to be better in the strike zone. His experience makes him a very polished hitter and we're relying on Gavin to be dangerous in the middle of the lineup for us."
 
Bradley transfer Cole Smith will get a chance to start at second base with sophomore Nolan Sandee competing with USC Upstate transfer Owen Ross at shortstop. Senior Will Couchman will be at third base, where he hit .295 in 46 games with nine home runs and 30 RBI. Couchman tied for second on the team last season with 25 walks. Senior transfer Ivan Dahlberg will get the first shot at starting catcher. Dahlberg was a D-II All-America Honorable Mention at Illinois-Springfield in 2025 and a two-time all-conference selection.
 
"We're trying to replace a guy that hit for average, that hit doubles and home runs. I think Ivan can be a version of that. Coach Kelch and I are very familiar with him. He's tremendous defensively and as good a receiver as it gets. He'a a left-handed bat that draws a lot of walks and has really good at-bats. I think this is as deep a catchers group as we've had."
 
Junior Charlie Parcell will anchor the outfield in centerfield. Parcell was one of two Huskies to play in all 54 games last year. He led NIU with a .416 on-base percentage and 13 stolen bases. Around him are a group of transfers Copeland is very high on.
 
"Charlie is the mainstay in the outfield and he'll get us going at the top of the lineup. Cooper Cohn will be behind the plate and play some right field. Austin Wiegand and Marcus Romero are a couple junior college transfers we're excited about. Marcus may be the most tooled-up player we have. He put up great numbers last year and is incredibly athletic. Caden Robertson was a D-2 National Player of the Year candidate last year at Central Oklahoma. It's just a matter of those guys getting the opportunity to show what they can do at this level."
 
On the mound sophomore Carter Cox looks to build on a solid finish to his rookie season. In his five Mid-American Conference starts Cox was 2-0 with a 2.33 earned run average. He had 32 strikeouts in 27 innings, finishing the season with 60 strikeouts in 49.2 innings pitched and a team-low .227 batting average against. NIU, as a staff, recorded the most strikeouts in a single season in 2025 with 450.
 
"Carter went through the whole thing last year. Early in the season we saw him as a matchup left-on-left guy and he struggled with it. He stuck with it and his outings were more and more successful. When he gave him the opportunity to start, he took it and ran with it. He's a tough kid, super competitive. The sky's the limit for him because of those intangibles along with the stuff which is pretty good."
 
Junior Danny Cihocki and senior Max Vaisvila will fill out the weekend rotation for the opening weekend. Cihocki led NIU last season with five saves, striking out 45 batters in 41.2 innings pitched. Vaisvila had 58 strikeouts in 58 innings pitched last year. He had 10 strikeouts in 5.2 innings in a start at Kent State last season.
 
Senior transfer Blake Gaskey could also figure in the mix for the weekend rotation. Gaskey threw over 140 innings the last two seasons at Ohio. The bullpen features returners Gavin Micklinghoff, Nick Bassi and John Lyman along with Milwaukee transfer Tyler Deleskiewicz and Matt Tarr from Purdue. Lyman appeared in 19 games a year ago and had a 2-1 record while holding opposing batters to a .227 batting average.
 
"I think the strength of our pitching staff is our rotation. We'll need some guys to step up on the back end. If we get good starts and are consistent, it makes it easier for our relievers."
 
Following the North Carolina A&T series, NIU will take on East Carolina on Wednesday, Feb. 18 before playing in the OneSpartanburg, Inc. Baseball Classic at USC Upstate, Prebyterian and Wofford next weekend. The Huskies will play a four-game series at Lindenwood Feb. 27-March 1 before MAC play starts March 6-8 at Ohio.
 
"In the first three weeks of non-conference play you're trying to do two things at once. You're trying to win games of course, but you're also trying to find out where guys fit and what their roles look like. Once we get to the first conference weekend at Ohio, we want to know what these guys can do and what your bullpen looks like. We feel like we have enough arms and believe in our offense."
 
NIU's first home series of the year is March 20-22 against Miami at Ralph McKinzie Field at Walt & Janice Owens Park.
 
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