For the past two weeks, the NIU baseball team has made itself more than comfortable on its home stand by winning 6-of-7 games.

But now entering the final month of the season, the Huskies (21-20 overall, 8-7 MAC) travel to the not-so-friendly confines of Eastern Michigan for a weekend series. First pitch today is slated for 5 p.m., while Saturday’s game begins at 4 p.m. and the Sunday finale starts at noon.

The Huskies took advantage of their games in DeKalb and have compiled a 12-4 record in the process. But when NIU travels to Ypsilanti, it will be visiting an equally good home team in Eastern Michigan (22-17, 9-6 MAC). The Eagles have won seven of their last eight games and has a 16-2 record at their home field.

“It starts with our guys on the mound,” NIU coach Ed Mathey said. “We need to pitch ahead. Our defense needs to be sharp. Eastern Michigan’s going to be a heck of a challenge. I think two of the last three years, they’ve been MAC champs.”

The trio of senior Nick Hall, sophomore Trevor Feeney and sophomore Brian Smith are scheduled to start for NIU. Despite EMU’s impressive record at home, Hall said going on a road trip is a welcome challenge.

“It’s almost a little more relaxing on the road,” Hall said. “You don’t have any field work to think about or school. It’s kind of like you’re just there to play baseball so it’s almost nice to be on the road every once in awhile. Almost like a mini-vacation.”

The EMU offense has been a catalyst to the Eagles recent success, as the line up has averaged more than nine runs per game in it’s last seven victories.

But probably the biggest key to EMU’s success is Hall’s counterpart on the mound. The Eagles have three starters with sub-four ERAs and are led by staff ace Jeff Fischer. Fischer’s record stands at 7-3 with a 1.64 ERA with four complete games.

“These three games against Eastern Michigan are just huge games for us,” NIU first baseman Scott Simon said. “In the MAC, we have to keep on winning series and keep on playing hard.”