DeKALB | Another week of baseball brought another round of accomplishments for the Huskies. NIU is now 17-10 overall and 7-2 in the MAC, good enough for an early third place position in the MAC West.

NIU continues to hold the best batting average in the MAC, with a .301 team average and is now fifth in overall pitching with a 4.56 team era.

MAC West honors

NIU freshman Jordin Hood received his first-ever MAC West Player of the Week award. The Hawthorn Woods native hit .412 and slugged .882 overall in one game against Illinois State and three versus Kent State. Hood had seven hits and five RBI with two triples, a double and a home run, increasing his batting average by 28 points during the week. Hood is the first NIU freshman to receive the award since Dan Urban in 2001.

“This is a very nice recognition for Jordin and a reward for the hard work he has put in to improving his game,” coach Ed Mathey said. “It was good to see him recognized for the week he had as he continues to improve and become an important component of our team.”

King of the K

Junior Trevor Feeney’s 12 strike outs during Friday’s 2-0 victory over Kent State were the most by an NIU pitcher since May 12, 2002 when Mark Skrukrud fanned a dozen against Buffalo. The only higher total on record is 15 by Jesse Richardson during the 1995 season.

Feeney is now 3-0 in the MAC and has struck out 20 batters while walking just two in 26.1 innings. Friday’s shut out was the first since March 4, 2006 when the Huskies blanked Southern Illinois, 8-0.

Rackin’ it up

Junior Matt Jernstad now has 17 strike outs in just 17.1 innings pitched during conference games this season. Also, senior Matt German has earned a win or a save in 21 of the last 41 NIU victories in 2006-2007.

Running away

Sophomore Bobby Stevens moved into sole possession of eighth place on the NIU career steals list after swiping his 30th bag of the season in Friday’s game one win over the Golden Flashes.

Stevens is now 13 for 13 in stolen base attempts this year.

As a team, NIU stole three bases during game three versus KSU, the highest total in a MAC game this season for the Huskies.

On the softball diamond

Despite the NIU softball team only winning one game in its four contests this past weekend, Krista McPherson and Ellen Stoddard continue to put up impressive numbers in the middle of the line up. McPherson is batting .354, while her counterpart, Stoddard, is up to a .313 average.

Freshman Kate Greenough leads the pitching staff for the Huskies with a 3.14 era and nine wins in 23 appearances.