For the entire season, NIU baseball coach Ed Mathey made it clear to his players that the team’s goal was not only to make it to the MAC tournament, but to win the MAC tournament.

After finishing the season with a sweep of Toledo and defeating the No. 2 seed Miami-Ohio in the first round, the Huskies fell short of their goal, losing to Eastern Michigan and Kent State in the double-elimination tournament that ended their season.

“The season always ends too soon, and it’s no different for us,” Mathey said. “I think the season was a success, even though we battled the injuries of guys like Mike Santoro. We just could never get on a good run and win games, and that was the difference between this season and last season.”

Santoro was forced to watch his team from the sidelines for the entire year after injuring his right foot in the preseason.

The Huskies never won more than four games in a row during the year and suffered several losing streaks, including an eight-game skid in late March.

NIU did, however, post its second-highest win total in history with a 31-28 overall record. Last season the team posted a record 34 wins.

The Huskies entered the MAC tournament after a 14-10 MAC season record. They topped Miami-Ohio 8-4 in the opening round.

A tournament-record seven errors put a damper on NIU’s hopes to top Eastern Michigan in the second round. EMU handed the Huskies a 17-12 loss, their first of the tournament.

“[Against EMU,] everything went wrong for us defensively,” NIU shortstop Greg Larsen said. “Offensively, I thought we played well, but we just couldn’t get it together on the defense.”

NIU’s season-ending loss came from Kent State, which scored seven unanswered runs to beat the Huskies 8-6.

Despite falling short of the team’s preseason goal of winning the MAC, coaches still said the season was a success.

“Since Ed Mathey has been here, the program has gotten so much more respect,” NIU pitching coach Luke Sabers said. “Saying we’ve won 30 games for the last two seasons really helps our recruiting.”

In summing up the season, NIU’s First Team All-MAC selection, pitcher Joe Piekarz said he thought the season was nothing to frown upon.

“I felt we had a really successful season, especially by beating Miami in the tournament,” Piekarz said. “They had beaten us all season. We would have liked to do better, but there was nothing to hang our heads about.”