One extremely lopsided statistic stands out before the first pitch is ever thrown in Tuesday’s 3 p.m. NIU_St. Francis College baseball battle at Huskie Diamond.

Huskie skipper Joe “Spanky” McFarland steps into the dugout with a 3-20 NIU career coaching mark, while St. Francis coach Gordie Gillespie boasts the winningest record in all of college baseball with a phenomenal 1239-643 ledger. Gillespie has spent 15 of those years in Fighting Saints’ land where he has compiled a 605-402 mark.

“St. Francis is led by one of the finest coaches in the country,” McFarland admitted. “I expect it to be a great game.”

It doesn’t matter that St. Francis is an NAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics) affiliate, a separate entity from the NCAA.

“NAIA schools are more on the level of (NCAA) Division II,” McFarland said. “Their recruiting policies are different.”

The NAIA has its own rules, which don’t coincide with NCAA limits, but since the game is in DeKalb, NCAA rules will be applied.

With an enrollment of approximately 850 students, the Joliet school checks into DeKalb with a 10-21-1 mark but was tabbed No. 3 in the preseason NAIA poll.

“They’re going to be a very good team,” McFarland said. “They are obviously going to be well coached.”

NIU will be playing its fourth-straight home game. Victors in two of the last three, the Huskies look to extend their “second half” record to 3-1 after a 1-19 first half.

“We finally got off of the road,” McFarland noted as one of the contributing factors to the Huskies’ recent success. “We’re getting more practice outside and the confidence level is getting higher.

“Just like I told the guys before the Eastern game (on Saturday),” McFarland continued, “they’re starting to understand the concepts now. Before they really didn’t understand what we were trying to do with them.”