Records are made to be broken, and baseball’s senior center fielder Jamison Wells has done just that.

In the Huskies’ prior weekend series against Kent State, Wells tied the NIU career stolen bases record of 71. The record was set by Alvin Maynard in 1980.

Going into the weekend series against Akron, Wells had a chance to make NIU history and solidify his name in the record books.

In the third inning of game two against the Zips, Wells took advantage of his opportunity as he stole second base for his 72nd career stolen base, claiming the record for his own.

“Anytime you get a career record it’s a pretty special thing,” said coach Ed Mathey. “When he’s on base he can go out and steal a lot of bases and be a really productive base-stealer for you… He’s going to put some more distance between him and who’s in second place.”

What makes the record so remarkable is Wells’ ability to stay consistent and produce at a high level over his four years. In his freshman season Wells stole 12 bases.

He followed that up by stealing a career-high 27 bases in his sophomore season before stealing 25 bases in his junior season.

“I think it shows through all four years of being consistent and getting on base,” Wells said. “And then once you’re on, being consistent with how you steal, when to steal, when not to steal. Those are things that we’ve learned throughout all four years.”

That put Wells at 64 stolen bases in his career going into his senior season, just eight short of the record.

“It was one of those things where I knew I had a chance to break it this year,” Wells said. “I think it was just a matter of time before I was going to break it; that’s just how confident I am in my base running. It’s just one of those things I wanted to get by and break it.”

Wells is proud of the record that he has set, but is not done yet, as he will continue to steal bases and add to his career total.

“I was pretty happy with myself,” Wells said. “But I’m looking to get a bunch more, you know, put the record on an even higher level, so that no one else can break it.”