In many ways, the NIU baseball team can relate to Northern Iowa.

Both teams were handed similar results after facing Southern Illinois. Northern Iowa traveled to SIU and was handed a three-game sweep. The Huskies avoided a similar fate by winning their third game 9-3 at SIU.

NIU (5-12) will get another chance at a Missouri Valley Conference opponent at 2 p.m. today against Northern Iowa (9-12) at Ralph McKenzie Field.

“They’re a good club,” NIU coach Ed Mathey said. “They’re right on the verge of being a perennial contender in that league.”

The Huskies had their first full practice on the McKenzie diamond Monday, something Mathey said will help his team’s confidence.

“This is great,” Mathey said in the 70-degree sun. “It’s good to be back home. Baseball is an outdoor game, and this is the first day we’ve been able to to practice on our fields, let alone in T-shirts.”

Adam Holdenrid will take the mound for the Huskies in his first career start in DeKalb. The 5-foot-11 freshman has two starts and four appearances, giving up 11 hits in 13.1 innings pitched with a team-best 2.70 ERA.

“I’m still a little nervous,” Holdenrid said, “but I got most of the kinks out in those first two starts.”

One major kink in NIU’s lineup has been the absence of Scott Simon, who led the Huskies last season with a .374 average and a MAC-high 71 RBIs. Simon strained his right wrist during the team’s loss to Louisville on March 15.

“He’s feeling a bit better and starting to swing,” Mathey said. “He’s a good hitter – you take your No. 3 hitter out of the lineup, and that’s tough to replace.”