NIU baseball is gearing up to begin the 2026 season under third-year head coach Ryan Copeland.
The Huskies lost several key pieces to the transfer portal this offseason, including the team’s ace Adam Brouwer to the University of Cincinnati and Logan Gregorio – NIU’s 2025 leader in home runs, batting average and runs batted in – to Auburn.
Ty Brachbil, last year’s team leader in innings pitched and strikeouts, was also lost to the transfer portal, as the two year starter at NIU transferred to High Point University.
Brachbil and Brouwer both played a role in the Huskies setting a new NIU team record for most strikeouts in a single season.
The Huskies’ rotation is going to have to rely on its returners, sophomore pitcher Carter Cox and senior pitcher Max Vaisvila, to make improvements from last year.
Cox, who spent time in the bullpen and starting rotation last season, had a 4.53 ERA, second lowest on the team, in just under 50 innings of work last season.
Vaisvila, who also split between the rotation and bullpen, had an ERA of 9.00 last season, giving up 13 home runs, the most on the team. Vaisvila’s 18 walks in his 58 innings were the least among Huskie starters to start at least five games.
“We’re going to rely on those guys to be the leaders of our pitching staff,” Copeland said. “Its always tough to lose those guys with that experience, but good programs have guys to fill in, and we feel really good about Carter being back as a sophomore and jumping into a starting role for the entirety of the year. And we expect great things from Max. The numbers weren’t very good last year but we feel like there were some outlier starts in there where he had some bad ball luck.”
Senior pitcher Blake Gaskey, a transfer from the University of Ohio, is set to be the Huskies’ ace this season, according to Copeland.
Gaskey spent the prior two seasons at Ohio, serving as the team’s Friday starter. In his two seasons with the Bobcats, Gaskey totaled 141 innings of work along with 105 strikeouts and an ERA of 7.00.
“Blake is a two-year weekend starter in this league,” Copeland said. “We were really familiar with him during the recruiting process, his stuff isn’t overwhelming but he’s competitive. He throws a ton of strikes. He’s had some really well pitched games in this league. He knows what it takes to get outs at this level.”
Junior pitcher RJ Bergren, a transfer from Southwestern Illinois, is another transfer that can make an impact on the Huskies’ pitching staff.
Bergren started 12 games last season at Southwestern, pitching to a 3-1 record with a 4.09 ERA. The southpaw totaled 67 strikeouts in 55 innings of work last season.
Last season, it was all about the offense for the Huskies, who set new single season marks in homeruns, walks, runs scored and RBI’s.
Graduate first baseman/outfielder Gavin Baldwin played a big role in last year’s big offensive season.
“I think this group has a chance to do something special,” Baldwin said. “I think we have a chance to break a lot of records again this year.”
Baldwin slashed .322/.415/.644 in 52 games last season. The slugging first baseman hit 15 home runs, tied for third on NIU’s single season list, and drove in 57 runs.
Baldwin was voted a preseason top-50 first baseman by D1 Baseball following his performance last season.
“It was nice,” Baldwin said. “I didn’t expect it honestly. It just kind of took me by surprise.”
Senior infielder Will Couchman was another big contributor to last year’s offense, slashing .295/.402/.491 in 46 starts in 2025. The left-handed second baseman’s nine home runs were fourth most on the team, while his 30 RBI’s were sixth most.
Couchman and Baldwin, who were both transfers last season, noted that team chemistry and belief in NIU’s coaching staff both helped their decision to stay and play their final collegiate seasons at NIU.
When asked what led to his decision to remain at NIU, Baldwin pointed to his role on the team.
“Copeland having trust in me,” Baldwin said. “It felt like last year there were a couple times where they just pushed me to the side. We were at SIUE last year and I had a couple bad at-bats and Copeland came up to me and he said, ‘I’m gonna ride with you. You gotta promise me you’re gonna have better at-bats.’ And I ended up hitting two home runs. So trust played a big role.”
Junior outfielder Charlie Parcell, entering his third season at NIU, has been a mainstay at the top of Copeland’s lineup, dating back to his freshman year.
Parcell provides a contact and speed combination that has proven to be deadly at the top of the lineup for the Huskies.
The left-handed centerfielder hit .301 last season with the second most at-bats on the team. Parcell tallied 41 walks while striking out only 25 times, accounting for the least of anybody with at least 100 at-bats on NIU.
Among the group of transfers new to NIU this year, senior catcher Ivan Dahlberg will be primed to make the biggest impact.
Dahlberg, a transfer from Illinois-Springfield, is coming off back-to-back All-GLVC First Team selections at the catcher position.
The left-handed slugger spent 130 games at Illinois-Springfield, hitting .318 and slugged 33 homeruns. Dahlberg also compiled an on-base percentage of nearly .500, at .482.
“Honestly, I think Ivan Dahlberg has been the most impressive,” Couchman said. “He just brings a unique leadership coming from D2 last year and he has just gelled with this team in a way that he’s going to be crucial for this team to win. He commands well behind the plate. I know the pitchers love throwing to him and the power speaks for itself at the plate.”
Senior outfielder Caden Robertson is another transfer set to make an impact on NIU’s lineup.
Robertson, who spent the two previous seasons at Central Oklahoma, was named a D2 All-American last season after posting a .358 average to lead his team.
Robertson also totaled 23 home runs which tied the Central Oklahoma school record for single season home runs.
In 90 games at Central Oklahoma, Robertson totaled 32 home runs, 117 RBIs and a .337 career batting average.
“Overall consistency from weekend to weekend,” Copeland said. “We’ve shown that we could play really well in the MAC at times. I think we’ve turned some heads and did some things really well in the conference. So, can we get adequate starting pitching, can we close games late, can we put teams away when we have a lead in the middle part of the game? I think that’s what it comes down to. I think the talent is there.”
The Huskies will begin their season at 2 p.m. Friday in Greensboro, North Carolina, to take on North Carolina A&T State University. Live stats will be available via SIDEARM Stats.
