The NIU baseball team will head to Ohio to start MAC conference play this weekend.

The first pitch in the three-game set at Ohio’s Bob Wren Stadium is set for 4 p.m. tonight.

NIU (5-12) is 4-2 in games played in the Midwest. And despite a 1-7 Spring Break road trip, an optimistic outlook permeates throughout the team.

“On the spring trip the scores don’t show it, but we played real nice defensively,” said junior infielder Marc Besteman. “Everyone understands their role and the job they have to do; it is a bunch of guys that know their roles, and I think it’ll come together as one machine.”

Ohio (5-7) will face an NIU lineup that has a team batting average of .271 and scores an average of five runs a game.

The NIU pitchers have an inflated ERA of 6.13, partially due to the crooked numbers Nevada posted in its five-game slugfest against NIU earlier in the month.

Junior lefty reliever Matt German has yet to allow an earned run, while Trevor Feeney has made the most of his recent opportunity as a starter. In his two starts, the sophomore righty is 1-0 with eight strike outs, and four earned runs in 10 innings pitched.

“Throwing strikes, and my pitches in the right counts has been the key to my success,” Feeney said.

Five players batting over .300 are on tap for the NIU pitching staff. As a team, Ohio has a .283 batting average and scores 6.6 runs per game.

Junior infielder Jon Vondrell leads Ohio with a .361 batting average.

Derek Witt led Ohio last season in innings pitched and strikeouts. Thus far, the senior right-hander is 2-2 with a 5.62 ERA.

Anthony Gressick is a dual threat on the mound and at the plate. As a pitcher, the senior utility man is 2-0 with a 3.68 ERA. He boasts a .333 average in the batter’s box.

But no matter Ohio’s offense, the Huskies know only one thing matters.

“We gotta win no matter what,” Feeney said. “Throw strikes, compete, and just get the job done.”