NIU baseball coach Dave Schrage hopes bats will swing today at the Huskies’ first home game.

At the start of the season, Schrage said more hitting was what he wanted to see, and in the first three games NIU delivered, scoring 40 runs in a three-game series sweep against Tennessee-Martin. NIU since has been on a downslide, scoring 6 runs in its last three games.

The second-year coach hopes to see the Huskies turn things around against Mount Saint Clare today in their home season-opener.

“It feels awesome,” Schrage said. “The weather is nice, and hopefully, it will stay that way for [today’s] game. Hopefully, we will get some baseball in.”

With temperatures dropping to 28 degrees overnight, on-field frost could be a problem. Schrage said if the field is not clear of frost by 10 a.m., the game might not be played.

With a warm-up of 52 degrees predicted, that may not be a problem. Schrage also said the weather will not be a factor in Wednesday’s game against Chicago State, as the game is still scheduled.

Besides the weather, the Huskies have been battling construction to Ralph McKenzie Stadium since fall. A new fence was being moved and put in, and the Huskies spent all day Monday working to prepare the field for today’s game.

“We didn’t think we would be still doing it,” Schrage said. “But we have to get it done if we want to play. The players have been out here all day putting everything they have into getting the stadium ready.”

If the game gets the go-ahead, Brad Gavelek will take the mound for the Huskies. The senior is 2-1 for the season, with his first loss against Iowa last week in a 6-0 final score. Gavelek has 28 strike-outs in the four games he pitched.

So far this season, Schrage has been happy with the consistency of the whole pitching staff. But to make a run in the Mid-American Conference, the Huskies are going to need stand-out pitching performances from Gavelek and ace Dan Badgley.

“[Gaveleks’] record is not indicative of how he has pitched this season,” Schrage said. “He pitched tremendous against Iowa, but he got beat. He has pitched outstanding so far this season.”