Despite a favorable forecast of sunny skies and temperatures in the low 70s, members of the NIU pitching staff will not get a chance to lay back and work on their tans.

Instead, the NIU baseball team will have to figure out how to slow down another offensive powerhouse this weekend at home.

The Huskies (17-19 overall, 6-6 MAC) will host the MAC West division leaders, Central Michigan (23-15, 9-3) for a three-game set this weekend. First pitch today is scheduled for 3 p.m. while Saturday and Sunday’s games are scheduled for 1 p.m.

The Chippewas’ potent offense has been its catalyst all season. CMU comes into DeKalb riding a five-game win streak and is scoring an average of nine runs per game in that span.

While CMU is hitting .321 as a whole, the middle of the order punch of first baseman Ben Humphrey and left fielder Bryan Mitzel has paced the team with power hitting. Humphrey leads the team with a .354 batting average and 43 RBIs to go with his seven home runs. Mitzel is right behind him with a .346 average and 40 RBIs while leading the team with 11 home runs.

NIU coach Ed Mathey said having a solid defense gives his pitchers more confidence to make their pitches. Mathey added the hot-hitting Chippewas are no stranger to his club after scoring 26 runs in two games against the Huskies last season.

“We’ve become pretty familiar with Central Michigan over the past few years and it will be a good challenge,” Mathey said. “They’re a confident bunch. Hopefully our pitchers will hit their spots and our defense can slow them down.”

Sophomore Trevor Feeney is scheduled to start for NIU on the weekend, and he said keeping the power hitters guessing and off balance is a key for his success.

“You have to change speeds and keep the ball down,” said Feeney, who is 3-2 on the year. “If you leave the ball up to those guys, they’re going to put it over the fence.”

NIU’s defense behind the pitchers has been tightening up recently as well. After committing six errors at Miami Friday, the Huskies have gone four straight games without a miscue.

Center fielder Pat Minogue said the defense is excelling, but patience at the plate is also key for wins against CMU.

“We’ve been playing defense pretty well and we need to keep that up,” Mingoue said. “Our approach needs to improve at the plate for sure. [We need to] try to get guys on base and stick to the way we play baseball, which is put guys on and move them over.”