DeKALB | If players and coaches around the MAC didn’t notice before, they will now.

It’s that point in the season where the NIU baseball team has proven its early success is no fluke. With four three-game conference series in the bag, the Huskies are now 20-11 overall and 9-3 in the MAC. Its four consecutive MAC series wins haven’t been accomplished since 2004, when that squad won five straight weekend sets.

This past weekend’s series win over Miami-Ohio marked the first time the Huskies have ever won a three-game set over the RedHawks. The Huskies are now 6-1 at home this season and 58-32-1 at Ralph McKinzie Field since 2003.

Another week, another award

Freshman Jordin Hood won the MAC West Player of the Week award last week. This week, Matt German took the MAC West Pitcher of the Week honors.

The senior from Marmion Academy became the all-time-NIU-saves leader and earned a save in three of the four games during the week ending April 15. During that stretch, German didn’t allow a hit while striking out six in 4 1/3 innings of work. German has now earned a save in each of the last six NIU victories and hasn’t allowed a hit during that stretch. Also, he lowered his overall ERA to 0.34 in 26.1 innings of work while keeping his MAC ERA at zero.

“This is a well-earned and well-deserved honor for Matt,” said coach Ed Mathey. “We are fortunate to have, in my opinion, the best back-end bullpen guy in the league. Relievers are sometimes overlooked for the jobs they do and Matt has been nothing but excellent for us. It is comforting for our team to have the ball in his hands at the end of a game.”

Just getting started

Last week, Hood earned the MAC West Player of the Week award by hitting .412 and slugging .882 in four games. This week, the freshman from Lake Zurich played in another four games and hit .438, while slugging .625, but didn’t receive his second-straight award.

Hood’s three RBIs in Saturday’s win over Miami equaled his career high, which was set twice previously. Hood’s season batting average is now at .337.

Hitting for power

Shortstop Bobby Stevens’ two home runs in Sunday’s win over Miami marked the second multi-homer game by the Huskies this season. The last one came on March 13 against New Jersey Tech, when Jesse Seykora had two long-balls.

Also, Sunday’s three home runs by NIU equaled the season high, which was set twice before. Danny Reed extended his hitting streak to nine games in Sunday’s win.

On the mound

Despite enduring his first MAC loss of the season on Friday, junior Trevor Feeney has only walked three batters and struck out 26 in 32.2 innings of work against conference teams. Overall, Feeney has stuck out 44 batters and walked only 10, giving him a 4.4-1 strike-out to walk ratio.

Softball

Krista McPherson raised her batting average from .354 to .368 in four games last week and has a team-high 42 hits. After giving up only three hits in a complete game 7-0 win over Western Michigan on Sunday, freshman Kate Greenough lowered her season era from 3.14 to 3.04.