The Huskie baseball squad will be looking for revenge today when they host Northeastern Illinois for a twinbill at Ralph McKinzie Field at 2 p.m.

NIU vs. NIU Part I ended with a sweep of the good guys, and now it’s time for Part II, “Huskies’ revenge.” NIU head coach McFarland is hoping that the outcome will be reversed in the sequel.

In Part I, which took place last week in Chicago, the Golden Eagles walked away with a pair of victories, 4-2 and 3-0. It was great defense that stole the games from the Huskies, who now stand at 10-24-1.

“Unfortunately, (Northeastern) made some great plays. They don’t make those plays and I’m sure we have the runs needed to win,” said McFarland.

On the mound, the Huskies have been solid all year long, but the offense and defense have posted other problems. In just 35 games, the Huskies have committed 66 errors, and the result was 36 unearned runs.

Although the Huskies have a team batting average of .231, the Huskie Hitmen are starting to come around. McFarland was happy with the hitting against Northeastern the last time the two teams met.

“We really hit the heck out of the ball. We made contact all day long,” McFarland said.

At the plate, the Huskies are on a hot streak after scoring 14 runs on 18 hits in a two-game series with Valparaiso last weekend and are hoping the hits keep coming against Northeastern.

Leading the Huskie hitters is Mike Birsa, who, after knocking two more out last week, brought his home run total to five, the highest for a Huskie.

Backing up Birsa is Zach Zavac (.296), who ties Birsa for the lead in RBIs (23) and triples (2). Early this season, Zavac was a candidate for the Mid-Con player of the week.

HERE‘S THE PITCH

Matt Kerlin_Part I of the NIU vs. NIU series didn’t really float my boat. There was plenty of action and drama, but the ending was very disappointing. I’m sure under a strong revenge factor, Part II will be much more enjoyable. I’ll give the Huskies two thumbs up. Game 1_Huskies 5, Golden Eagles 4. Game 2_Huskies 4, Golden Eagles 3.