Coach Dave Schrage believed that if his team had any chance of making it to the tournament, it’d have needed to start this weekend by winning the series over Central Michigan.

The Huskies looked like they might do it, as they won the first two games of the series Friday and Game 1 Saturday. But all NIU could manage out of the weekend was a split with CMU.

On Friday, the Huskies were propelled by starting pitcher Brad Gavelek. They took the game 4-2, and Gavelek pitched a complete-game five-hitter &his fourth complete game of the season & evening his record to 4-4.

“This is what we’ve been looking for all season from our pitching staff,” Schrage said after Gavelek’s gem. “Gavelek went out there and got the job done. He threw his fastball for strikes and his breaking ball for strikes.”

On Saturday, the Huskies continued their winning ways by taking Game 1, 4-2. Don Rodman, along with Gavelek, pitched a complete game, and only allowed six hits with no walks and six strikeouts. Both of the runs Rodman allowed were unearned.

In Game 2, the Huskies fell behind early as CMU put up five runs in the first and two more in the second to take what looked like a commanding 7-0 lead. But Huskie bats came alive and eventually tied the game at nine in the bottom of the ninth.

Catcher Al Ryniec blooped a single into short center in the ninth with runners on first and second. As CMU center fielder tried to throw out Trevor Stocking at third, the ball went into the dugout, allowing Stocking and Bilal Omar to score. NIU allowed two runs in the tenth, falling 11-9.

After the Huskies were down 2-0 in the fourth in Sunday’s finale, they scored three. Pat Kerrigan kicked it off with an RBI single as he plated home Noel

Danielson, who led off the frame with a walk. Two batters later, second baseman Joel Vanden Berg doubled home Kerrigan. The other Huskie run came on Ryniec’s RBI groundout to shortstop.

Things fell apart for NIU starter Zach Minor in the seventh as he allowed three runs which would end up being the deciding tallies.

“I was really disappointed with our team today,” Schrage said. “We lacked intensity, we lacked desire and we played like we were happy that we split. I thought today we would’ve been most enthused because we had a chance to win a series and get back in the race and apparently that didn’t mean anything to us with the way we played today.”