A little more than halfway through the season, the NIU baseball team continues to search for a way to play better defense.

The Huskies (13-21 overall, 4-7 MAC) host Toledo in a three-game series beginning today at 3 p.m. at Ralph McKinzie Field. NIU comes off a two-game winning streak with mid-week victories over Illinois State and Chicago State.

The Huskies have lost seven straight conference match-ups, however, and look to change that this weekend against the Rockets (14-17, 7-5).

“We’re still not executing on the defensive side of the ball,” said NIU head coach Ed Mathey. “We’re giving free passes and making errors, and that’s just not the way to do it. We’ve got to continue to work on sharpening it up.”

NIU has committed 64 errors in 34 games this season, compared to its opponents’ 39 errors. Pitching is another area Mathey wants the team to focus on. The Huskie pitching staff has a 7.14 ERA while issuing 166 walks.

“It’s no secret we’ve been kicking the ball around a little bit,” said senior outfielder Pat Minogue. “It hurts what our pitchers can do. We have a good team and can make good plays. We’ve just got to get better. We’ve got to overcome those things.”

In contrast to their defense, the Huskies boast a stable offense. NIU bats .296 as a team and have scored 222 runs on the year. Junior Jordin Hood leads the team with a .403 batting average with 14 doubles and 31 RBI.

“The guys are taking good approaches and working themselves into favorable counts, and when they get their pitches they are starting to hit them,” Mathey said. “The middle of the lineup has been pretty dangerous all year so we hope to continue that. We come out, and we’ve been scoring early, and that’s a good thing.”