NIU first baseman Mike Hochhauser will miss about two weeks because of a right index finger that was torn open.

Hochhauser had his finger caught in a closet door which was slammed closed last Wednesday night.

“It was pretty bad,” Hochhauser said. “The bone was showing, but it’s healing a lot quicker than expected.”

The Darien native says that for the time being he is working on drills to keep his technique in sync, as he is unable to practice in the field or participate in batting practice.

Hochhauser started 21 of 24 games for the Huskies hitting .316 with two home runs and eight RBIs.

He expects the injury to take no longer than three weeks to heal.

“It’s going to be a big blow for the team having him out,” freshman Scott Simon said. “He’s one of the team leaders, but we have a good team and we’ll just have to work around him being out.”