NIU baseball has endured the long haul and will play its first home game today against the UIC Flames.

The Huskies will hope to carry some momentum from their last two victories of their road trip into this game.

The most notable of that momentum coming from the pitching staff, including the first shutout of the season in their last game.

“Our pitchers are starting to settle in,” said NIU coach Ed Mathey. “We really did put our guys through the gauntlet with a lot of ranked teams and talented hitters. Our guys are hitting that learning curve.”

UIC (5-11), on the other hand, will come in riding a two game losing streak, being outscored 21-7 in those two games.

Mathey said changes have to come offensively for NIU to find success, in both the physical and mental domains.

“I feel we’re striking out too much as a team right now,” Mathey said. “We need a little adjustment philosophically, and use a shorter swing. It showed against Southern Illinois. We were able to create momentum by putting the ball in play.”

Mathey said it will take a team effort offensively, but is looking toward his seniors to produce, such as shortstop Alex Jones and third baseman Troy White.

Mathey said he liked what he has seen from players such as sophomore Alex Klonowski and junior Jamison Wells so far.

Along with changes to the approach of the game, there are other outside factors that could breed success for the Huskies coming into this game, namely just being home.

“You’re in and out of hotels for these extended trips,” Mathey said. “The guys are back, they’re in their own beds. We’re hoping the home field can keep us going with this little two-game winning streak.”

White also believes that the home field advantage will only benefit the team going forward.

“We don’t have to live out of our suitcases anymore,” White said. “We’ve had some ups and downs but the last two games have really jump-started an attitude with the team. We’re going to go out there and put all facets of the game together.”