The MAC baseball season is quite similar to that of a nine-inning baseball game.

Throughout the course of the season, the Huskies (16-21, 11-4 MAC) play nine weekend series against MAC opponents. The games are crucial in deciding the Huskies’ place in the MAC tournament.

The Huskies have dominated conference play as they lead the MAC West with an 11-4 record.

They have won their last four MAC series in a row, including two three-game sweeps over Akron and Western Michigan. In their last 10 MAC games they have posted a record of 8-2.

Their lone MAC series loss this season came in their first weekend series with Kent State, which went to the College World Series last season. The Golden Flashes took two of three games from the Huskies.

But when the Huskies play against teams that are not in the MAC they are a below-.500 team with a record of 5-17.

So what has been the key to the Huskies’ success in the MAC? When they play in the MAC, it is a completely different team. When it comes to MAC play the Huskies put up significantly better numbers at the plate and on the mound. In MAC play, the Huskies have a .280 batting average compared to a .252 batting average on the season.

The Huskies have been led at the plate by juniors Jeff Zimmerman and Alex Klonowski. In conference play, Zimmerman leads the MAC in hits with 23 while Klonowksi is tied for second with 22 hits. Zimmerman is batting .383 at the plate with 13 RBIs and Klonowski is hitting .349 with 11 RBIs.

Junior Landon Tenhagen has provided the power for the Huskies as his three home runs in conference play are good enough to put him second in home runs.

On the mound, the Huskies are the best pitching team in the MAC. The Huskies surrender the fewest runs in conference play as they have given up a low 39 earned runs and an average of 2.64 runs per game compared to a 4.67 earned run average throughout the season.

Junior Eli Anderson has posted a perfect record of 5-0 in MAC play with an earned run average of 0.61. His five wins leads the MAC and is third in strikeouts with 39. Anderson has also pitched four complete games in his five starts.

The Huskies are leading 4-1 going into the sixth inning of the MAC season. If they keep up their level of play in their four final remaining MAC series, they should be sitting pretty come time for the MAC tournament.