In the midst of his best season at NIU, baseball junior pitcher Eli Anderson comes in at No. 5 on the Northern Star’s list of the top 10 athletes of 2012-2013.

In his second season as a starter at NIU, Anderson has proved his ability to go the distance as he has pitched five complete games on the season, all of which have come in MAC play.

Anderson also showed his consistency to last deep into games as he threw four consecutive complete games. He leads the team in innings pitched with 83.1.

“Overall, I think I’ve had a pretty decent year,” Anderson said. “It’s been nice to go out and have consistent starts.”

Anderson stepped up in a big way for the Huskies this season as he is the only returning pitcher in 2013 with starting experience as last season he only started in five games.

This season he holds a record of 7-3 and has earned six of his wins in MAC play. Those six wins in MAC play ranks him No. 1 in the conference.

The Glenview native holds the best earned run average on the team as he gives up 2.16 earned runs per game and also leads the team in strikeouts with 57.

With three weeks left in the season, the Huskies sit atop the MAC West Division thanks in large part to Anderson’s play this season.

“Well, I mean obviously it’s a pretty big honor,” Anderson said. “Especially top 10 with the way the football team played this year, and I know a bunch of other teams had pretty good years.”