Surprise. The NIU baseball team did it, it finally did it.

The setting: Huskie Diamond, the place the Huskies like to call “Field of Dreams.” But until Sunday, it had been anything but dreamy for the Huskies. In fact, it had been a field of nightmares, as NIU lost its first three home games en route to an 0-18 start.

Sunday was different. The Huskies shook off Saturday’s 20-5 loss to Valparaiso Sunday and won their first game of the season, defeating Viterbo College 6-2 in the first game of a doubleheader.

It didn’t seem to bother NIU head coach Joe McFarland that his team (1-19) reverted to its old ways in the second game, losing 6-2. McFarland was happy his team broke into the win column.

“It (the win) was nice,” he said. “It takes the pressure off. From here on out, you’ll see a different club.”

NIU was able to win because of the pitching of winning pitcher Paul Schimbke (1-1). Schimbke pitched a complete game, NIU’s first of the season, and allowed only two earned runs on seven hits.

“I pitched all right,” Schimbke said. “Late in the game, I got a little tired.”

When he got tired, McFarland was ready to send in a reliever. But Schimbke told his coach he could finish the game.

“He’s got a lot of guts,” McFarland said. “He’s a real competitor. The guys really believe in him.”

With Schimbke pitching so well, all the Huskies needed to do was supply a few runs.

With the score tied in the bottom of the fourth, NIU managed to send 10 batters to the plate, scoring four of them plus a courtesy runner.

The first batter in NIU’s half of the inning, second baseman Chris Mershon, walked. The next batter, left fielder Zach Zavac, singled to leftfield, putting runners on first and second.

After stealing second, Zavac took third on a infield single by centerfielder Mark Mershon. Mark drove in his brother, Chris, with the hit.

With one out and the bases loaded, Zavac scored on a walk. A force at second allowed the Huskies to score their next run. Courtesy runner Horace Woods and designated hitter John Johnson scored the final two runs of the inning.

“We bunched our hits in the inning,” McFarland said. “We haven’t done that all year. That was nice.”

What wasn’t nice was NIU’s other two games in the weekend. In Sunday’s second game, VC never trailed. Of its six runs, only three were earned. Winning for VC was Chad Hjelfming. Taking the loss was starter Brent Horlock (0-5).

Saturday’s game against Valparaiso was a rout by the third inning. By scoring four runs in the first, five in the second and four in the third, VU put itself up 12-2. Josh Brown (0-5) was the loser.