NIU shortstop Joe Mazzuca knows that overlooking a 3-23 Chicago State team is always a possibility, but not if the Huskies focus on the task at hand.

“Coach [Ed] Mathey has said from day one that if we play our game, we’ll be all right,” Mazzuca said.

The Huskies (17-12) will try to avoid their season-long losing streak of three games when junior Nathan Stillwell takes the mound at Chicago State for a 3 p.m. matinee.

Stillwell will try to follow up the play of junior Zach Minor who won the MAC West Player of the Week award on Monday and ranks second in the conference with a 185 ERA.

NIU is coming off a 15-inning marathon on Sunday in which the Huskies lost 4-3 to Western Michigan. The Huskies stranded 12 runners and made three errors that gave way to two unearned runs.

For the season, NIU is batting .302, but Mathey still is looking for the players to focus more on going to the opposite field.

“We need to get back to hitting the ball the opposite way,” Mathey said. “We have to stay aggressive as well and start hitting fastballs. I thought that our guys passed up on some pretty good fastballs this weekend because they were looking for breaking balls.”

Stillwell is 1-0 on the season with this being his third start. His other seven appearances have come from out of the bullpen. The junior righthander has had trouble with his control with 13 walks in 12 and one-third innings.

“We’re looking for five or six innings out of Nathan, depending on his pitch count,” Mathey said. “We like to keep him ready for his relief duties.”

Even with a 3-23 team, Mathey knows you can never be too cautious.

“Obviously they’re not very strong if you look at their record,” the first year coach said. “It’s a situation that if we overlook them and they throw a good pitcher out there, and we give them some opportunities, then crazy things can happen.”