NIU head baseball coach Ed Mathey called this past weekend the toughest stretch of competition NIU has faced since he’s been at the school.

The Huskies traveled to Tempe, Ariz. this past weekend and faced three nationally-ranked teams at the DeMarini Invitational at Arizona State’s Packard Stadium.

The result was two losses but a win over No. 15 Missouri by a score of 5-2 on Saturday.

NIU (2-6) starter Andy Deain, who was the Huskies’ closer last year, got his first win of the season against Missouri. The senior threw six innings giving up just one earned run.

“He came out and did a great job,” Mathey said. “He set a great pace out there.”

NIU lost 23-7 to No. 25 Oregon State, national champions in 2006 and 2007, on Thursday. Friday, the Huskies fell 6-1 to the host Sun Devils and 2-1 to Oregon State Sunday, with Alex Jones striking out to end the game with the bases loaded.

“We came down here and played some really good teams,” Mathey said. “I saw a lot of good things.”

Mathey talked about the fact that NIU likes to schedule tough teams and commented on the atmosphere at Packard Stadium.

“We’ve tried to play good programs; this is probably the best we’ve seen,” Mathey said. “ASU is a great place to come play. You look out there and see names like [Brian] Bannister, [Barry] Bonds, [Sal] Bando, [Dustin] Pedroia.”

Sunday, junior Chuck Lukanen allowed two earned runs in 4.1 innings, while Nick Badgley, Kyle Glancy, and Tom Zelasko threw three two-third innings of shutout ball, finishing off a good weekend for the NIU bullpen, which ended the tournament throwing nine two-third innings without allowing a run.

Hitting-wise, junior first baseman Dave Reynolds went 8-13 on the weekend and earned his second save of the year on the mound.

NIU will travel to Carbondale to take on Southern Illinois (2-6) Friday through Sunday. The team’s home opener is Friday, March 20 against Buffalo.