The MAC West-leading NIU baseball team will look to continue its strong play in a midweek matchup against the Bradley Braves at 3:05 p.m. at Ralph McKinzie Field.

The Huskies (14-19) are coming off a three-game sweep over Western Michigan and have posted a record of 8-2 in their last 10 games. Their 9-3 start in conference in MAC play is their best start ever.

“Last year we were a completely different team,” said junior Nate Ruzich. “This year we’re out, we’re No. 1 in the MAC right now. I don’t see us turning around. I see this to keep going forward and hopefully winning the MAC and doing some bigger things.”

The key for the Huskies as of late has been the production from their starting pitching. While the trio of freshman Jordan Ruckman and juniors Eli Anderson and Alex Klonowski highlight the Huskies’ starting rotation, they will turn to freshman Jon Savarise for what will be his first collegiate start.

Savarise has worked out of the bullpen and appeared in 13 games for the Huskies this season. He has not surrendered an earned run and his 0.00 earned run average leads the MAC. The most innings Savarise pitched this season was four back against Murray State in which he recorded his first save.

Head coach Ed Mathey is looking to get his bullpen involved as he wants them to remain ready to pitch.

“We need to get some guys in,” Mathey said. “We need to get our bullpen going because you can’t go out and expect complete games all the time.”

The Huskies’ bats have started to become alive, which is most notable with junior Jeff Zimmerman. Zimmerman is on an 11-game hitting streak, the longest of his career. Over the course of his streak, Zimmerman has a batting average of .391 with 18 hits, three of them doubles, to go along with 10 RBIs.

The Braves (11-19) are coming off a rough series in which they were swept in a three-game series by Wichita State. They are led by senior Mike Tauchman, who is hitting .398. He has recorded 30 RBIs to go along with two home runs and 16 stolen bases.