Over the course of his career at NIU, junior Alex Klonowski has been used primarily as a position player in the everyday lineup.

While being a position player, Klonowski has also pitched in relief for the Huskies out of the bullpen. He would even come in and pitch in games that he started in the field.

That has slightly changed this season as Klonowski has become more of a starting pitcher, and one of the Huskies’ most reliable pitchers at that.

While it was a difficult transition at first, Klonowksi has gotten used to it and enjoys being a starting pitcher.

“It was different at first,” Klonowski said. “But I feel like I’m accustomed to it now. It’s really just a different mind-set that you have to have.”

Coach Ed Mathey has been impressed with the way Klonowski has adapted to his change from the bullpen to the starting rotation.

“I think he’s done a great job,” Mathey said. “He’s gone deep into the games for the most part. He’s given us a couple of great outings and his mentality is where you want a pitcher to be at.”

In his last two seasons as a pitcher, Klonowski appeared in 39 games out of the bullpen, while only starting one game back in 2011. In that start he pitched 5.1 innings.

This season, he has made six appearances, all of them starts. He has posted a record of 2-4 and in his two victories he has pitched complete games. Klonowski also leads the team in innings pitched with 40.

Mathey made his decision to make Klonowski a starting pitcher because he needed someone who could be a reliable pitching option and pitch for most of the game.

“I like the fact that he’s going deep into games and pitching a lot of innings,” Mathey said. “That’s the big thing, giving us quality innings. That’s what we needed, that’s what this year’s team needed more than anything because we had a lot of unproven things with the amount of innings that we graduated. So Alex’s ability to continue to go deep into the game will really help our entire team out.”