As the temperatures rise, so does the NIU baseball team’s level of play.

The Huskies (15-17 overall, 8-4 MAC) travel to the University of Toledo this weekend to face the Rockets (9-20, 3-6) in a three-game series. NIU has been racking up conference victories, winning the last five of six MAC games. They look to continue this trend in the Buckeye State.

Huskie starter Trevor Feeney is slated to take the mound today at 2 p.m. The senior is 2-3 on the year with a 4.47 ERA, and he pitched six innings in NIU’s 5-4 victory over Akron on April 11.

“He’s got to go out and pitch efficiently and effectively,” NIU coach Ed Mathey said. “This is college baseball and he’s not automatic, but he’ll go out and give us a chance to win.”

NIU is coming off a 5-4 loss to No. 29 Notre Dame in a game that was played at U.S. Cellular Field.

“It was an awesome event, but we fell short of our goal,” Mathey said. “We have to get back into the game as quickly as possible and continue what we’ve been doing.”

The Huskies are hitting .283 on the year and look to continue the trend against the Rockets’ pitching.

Huskie outfielder Danny Reed leads NIU with 29 RBIs. The senior, who is batting .313, leads the MAC with 13 doubles.

“My approach is to be selective at the plate and swing at strikes,” Reed said. “I think it’s going to be a good series. Last year was a fun series and I hope to go there and take the series from them.”

Toledo leads the all-time series over NIU 25-19. The Rockets took two of three from the Huskies in 2007.

“Over the past few years, our games against Toledo have been close and high-spirited,” Mathey said. “We know they’re going to come at us.”

The spring-time temperatures have allowed the Huskies to get more time on the practice field and work on improving their play.

“We’re starting to see nicer weather and we’re starting to get consistency in our ability to practice and our kids are making adjustments,” Mathey said. “We need to keep playing at a good, consistent level.”