When NIU catcher Tug Gillingham transferred from Purdue, he wasn’t looking only for a chance to play. He was looking for respect.

“Playing time had a lot to do with it,” the 6-foot-1 junior said, “but they thought of me as nothing more than a bullpen catcher.”

Last year’s Boilermakers bullpen catcher started two of the three games for NIU against Ball State over the weekend.

The guy who teammates call the loudest guy on the bus is among good company in NIU catchers, pitching coach Luke Sabers said.

“Between the three catchers, all bring a level of toughness,” Sabers said. “Tug [Gillingham] keeps everybody loose. You can never have too many good catchers.”

Anthony Venetucci has caught the most games for NIU but was injured last week when a foul ball hit his forearm, leaving Mike Kukla and Gillingham to fill in.

Gillingham and the Huskies face Wisconsin-Milwaukee for a 1 p.m. doubleheader today at Ralph McKinzie Field. The game originally was scheduled to be an away game for the Huskies but was changed Monday because of construction on Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s dugout.

Pitchers Matt Steiger and Matt German will start today’s games. NIU coach Ed Mathey said it’s important for pitchers to get run support.

“We’ve been struggling to produce runs over the last few weeks, and that puts pressure on our pitchers,” Mathey said. “We’ve got two guys that have had limited starts, and we’re hoping we can play some solid defense.”

NIU has lost its past seven games, including a three-game sweep by Ball State to begin MAC play over the weekend.

Gillingham said the key to breaking the streak will be to stay mentally focused.

“We have to play a pitch at a time,” he said. “We played three really good games at Ball State, and we’re starting to come around. Nobody’s pushing the panic button, not yet.”