Huskie fans can enjoy the weather and see the NIU baseball team play at home for the first time a little early this year. Due to bad field conditions at Chicago State, tomorrow’s doubleheader showdown with the Cougars has been moved to the friendly confines of Ralph McKinzie Field for a noon start.

The Huskies are going into tomorrow’s games sporting a 2-7-1 record with all of those losses on the road. The Huskies are winless in their last five, including a three-game sweep by the University of Arkansas last weekend.

Tomorrow’s games, which mark the home opener for the Huskies, should have been the home opener for Chicago State, who is 3-10, and in the midst of a seven-game losing streak.

The Huskies, who beat Chicago State in three out of four last year, should do just as well against the Cougars this year. At least that is the way it looks on paper.

In the Cougars’ last appearance, they lost to St. Louis University by a score of 13-7. Chicago State pitchers were charged with just one earned run, while their fielders committed ten errors.

“Our chances this year look good against Chicago State,” NIU coach Joe “Spanky” McFarland admitted.

“Our pitching has been the best thing for us right now. Our hitters haven’t really had a chance to swing the bat, but they’ll come around,” McFarland said.

Tomorrow could be the opportunity for the Huskies to start swinging the bats. In its last seven games, Chicago State has given up an average of 15.3 runs per game causing losses by an average of 11.6 runs per game. Also, the Cougars’ team ERA is a whopping 12.41.

The Huskies have been taking advantage of their week off and the nice weather by getting in some practices on Ralph McKinzie Field.

“We’ve practiced outside a few times this week, and it helped us get accustomed to the field,” McFarland said.

“By being outside, we practiced some game situations, which should help.”

Five of the seven losses this season have come to Top 30 teams. Because NIU doesn’t have the good weather year round, their previous opponents had a great advantage.

“Our toughest part of the season isn’t over yet,” McFarland explained.

“We’re still a young team. The only good thing is now we’ll be playing teams who are in the same situation as us. They haven’t been out as much.”

With a five-game winless streak, McFarland will not let his Huskies get down.

“The team realizes that we were in most of the games,” McFarland said. “We would have liked to win a few more, but the team isn’t down.

“We’re still young, and there are 46 more games to play this year.”

After watching the Huskies play tomorrow, students can go to the Hinsdale Theatre to see the original Spanky McFarland tell stories about his fellow Rascals, Alfalfa and Buckwheat.

How did NIU’s Joe McFarland get the nickname Spanky?

“The kids at Georgia Tech saw a Little Rascals episode where Spanky had to state his full name,” McFarland explained. “They convinced the head coach to put ‘Spanky’ on the back of my jersey, and the name stuck.”