The NIU baseball team is desperate.

Its head coach, Joe McFarland, hopes his lose-weary club’s furious search for victory will be over by the weekend’s conclusion.

The 0-17 Huskies travel to Valparaiso to play Saturday. NIU will then make its way back to DeKalb for a Sunday doubleheader with Viterbo College. The twin bill starts at noon.

“Valparaiso’s in our conference (next year),” McFarland said. “We’re excited about that. Even though it won’t count as a conference game, it’ll be nice to see how we match up.

“I don’t know much about (Viterbo), but their new coach (Kevin Johnston) is energetic. I don’t think he’ll bring a slouch down here.”

McFarland hopes this weekend’s action features certain players stepping up and providing leadership, especially during the late innings.

“I talked with the coaches about it, and we talked to the players,” McFarland said. “But I don’t know if you can coach those type of things.

“If you have success, confidence will grow. We’re improving in every facet of the game; we’ve cut down on errors and walks. But we haven’t gotten to the level we need to win games. At this point, it’s hard to have confidence.”