General | April 14

DeKALB, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University men's tennis heads to Buffalo for this weekend's Mid-American Conference Championship, headlining a week where five other teams are in action on the road.
 
Men's Tennis at the MAC Championship April 17-18 (Buffalo, N.Y.)
Friday, April 17: vs. #2 Western Michigan, 1 p.m. – Live Scoring | MAC Championship Central
Saturday, April 18: vs. #1 Buffalo/#4 Ball State, 12 p.m.
 
The Huskies are competing in the MAC Tournament this weekend for the second time in the last three seasons. NIU will face Western Michigan on Saturday, April 18 and will face the winner of No. 1 seed Buffalo and No. 4 seed Ball State on Sunday at 12 p.m. if it advances. 
 
NIU split its matches last weekend, falling to Western Michigan on Thursday before bouncing back for a Senior Day win on Sunday over Ball State. The Huskies have recorded wins against all three tournament participants this season. 
 
Iker Gaztambide Arrastia and Federico Scotuzzi received MAC Player of the Week honors this week, with Gaztambide Arrastia claiming his fourth Singles Player of the Week and the duo earning their second Doubles Team of the Week recognition. The Huskies have 10 Player of the Week honors this season. 
 
Softball
Tuesday, April 14: vs. Bradley, 3 p.m./5 p.m. – Game 1 Live Video | Game 2 Live Video | Live Stats
Friday, April 17: at Bowling Green, 2 p.m. – Live Video | Live Stats
Saturday, April 18: at Bowling Green, 12 p.m./2 p.m. – Live Video | Live Stats

The Huskies softball team will conclude their eight-game homestand on April 14 as they host Bradley for a non-conference doubleheader. This will be the second time the Huskies and Braves have met this season, as NIU claimed a 10-5 victory over them in February. NIU returns to MAC play as they hit the road for a three-game series against Bowling Green. The Huskies took the series last year, winning two of three games.

NIU comes off of a week where they went 6-0 in MAC play, sweeping Ball State and Kent State at home. The current six-game winning streak featured back-to-back walk-off wins and saw NIU hit two grand slams in the same inning en route to an 11-1 victory (April 11, Kent State). Rylie Hartman led NIU at the plate, going .625 with 10 hits including four doubles. Danielle Stewart, who leads the MAC with a .483 batting average and is ranked in the top-15 of the nation, hit .526 on the weekend with 10 hits, four doubles and a home run. 

Baseball
Tuesday, April 14: at Illinois State, Postponed
Friday, April 17: at Akron, 1 p.m. – Live Video | Live Stats
Saturday, April 18: at Akron, 12 p.m. – Live Video | Live Stats
Sunday, April 19: at Akron, 11 a.m. – Live Video | Live Stats
 
NIU's game at Illinois State Tuesday night has been postponed due to a threat of inclement weather. The Huskies head to Akron this weekend for a three-game MAC series against the Zips. NIU took two out of three games against MAC leaders Kent State last weekend, winning the rubber game 5-2 on Sunday. It was the Huskies' first series win at home over the Golden Flashes since 2009.
 
NIU goes into this weekend's series at 12-6 in the MAC, part of a five-way tie for second and just one game back of Kent State at 13-5. Senior pitcher Max Vaisvila continues to lead the league in strikeouts after posting eight in six innings in Friday's 12-2 seven-inning win. Cole Smith takes an eight-game hitting streak into the weekend. He has had multiple hits in seven of those eight games to boost his batting average to .381.
 
Track & Field
Friday-Saturday, April 17-18: Tom Jones Memorial – SEC Network Plus
 
The Huskie track and field team heads to Gainesville, Fla., to compete in the Tom Jones Memorial this weekend. The two-day meet will begin at 11 a.m. CT on Friday with the 200 meters and resume on Saturday with a 100-meter hurdles at 8:30 a.m. CT. Selected action from both days will be broadcast on SEC Network Plus.
 
This past weekend at the Illini Deca-Jam, NIU recorded nine top-three finishes including a second in the 4x100-meter relay with the seventh-best time in the MAC this season. G'Nea Pitt recorded the seventh-best mark in the MAC this year in the javelin while Miashlie Jean ran the 13th-best time in the conference in the 100-meter hurdles. 
 
Women's Tennis
Friday, April 17: vs. Ball State, 12 p.m.
 
NIU closes out its regular season on Friday, hosting Ball State on Senior Day. The Huskies are coming off a 5-2 win over Bowling Green on Sunday. 
 
Nataly Ninova recorded two wins over the Falcons, becoming the program's all-time wins leader with a 165 and has a chance to add to that total on Friday. Jenna Horne, Ninova and Isabella Righi will all be honored following Friday afternoon's match. The trio has combined for over 400 career wins during their time at NIU. 
 
 
Men's Golf
Saturday-Sunday, April 18-19: Hoosier Intercollegiate – Live Scoring
 
The NIU men's golf team plays its final tournament before the MAC Championship this weekend at the Hoosier Intercollegiate, hosted by Indiana at The Pfau Course. Sophomore Jack Mulligan was the Huskies' top finisher at last weekend's Robert Kepler Intercollegiate, placing in the top-50 with a 54-hole score of two-over par 216. He posted NIU's lowest round of the tournament with a two-under par 70 on Sunday. It was the second time this season Mulligan led NIU at a tournament, posting a t-19 finish at the Jim DeLapa Collegiate at the end of September.
 
--NIU--