NIU baseball coach Dave Schrage said the Mid-American Conference has a lack of respect for the Huskies.

Even though the Huskies finished 24-33 last season and in third place in the MAC West Division after a 4-51-1 season the year before, the MAC responded by predicting NIU would finish fourth in the West.

Schrage knows earning respect takes time, but it will be earned this season.

“We have approached the season with the idea that we do not have respect from the rest of the MAC,” the second year coach said. “A lot of them feel that it is only one year. The preseason poll came out, and we were predicted fourth. I guess they think we are going to do worse than last season. We are going out and trying to prove them wrong.

“We’re at the infant point of building this program. It takes a while to earn that respect. The thing we established was that our kids believe that they can win. When you are over that hump, that’s your first step. That is the sign of a winning team.”

Senior pitcher Dan Badgley said even though the Huskies went to the MAC Tournament last season and lost in the first round, NIU was just happy to be there. This season, they want to walk away with the championship.

“We need to get this program where it is supposed to be,” Badgley said. “Last year we were just happy to make it. This year our goal is to make it and win it. Then we can go from there and go to the regionals.”

To win the MAC Championship, Schrage said a team needs depth. The Huskie coach said the team is two-deep at every position, and with the new change in the weekend schedule from the Saturday and Sunday double-headers to games on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, it is going to be a big plus.

The biggest addition for the Huskies was the return of sophomore first baseman Brent Coyner, who was out with a broken right wrist. Coyner joins the infield of Jason Ciarrachi, Bilal Omar and Kyle Kimme at the starting lineup. Schrage said last season the defense was the weak link, and if the group can improve on the poor defense from last season, the team will do well.

“Those are guys that played a lot,” Schrage said. “We are going to be as good as our defense. We were fourth or fifth in pitching, fifth or sixth in hitting but last in defense. We were inconsistent all the way through the season. That is one of the things that we need to shore up. I cannot say if we have improved on defense. We are not where we need to be at a championship level on the defensive side.”

Another player that Schrage has been impressed with is NIU backup quarterback Dan Urban. The Huskie skipper said Omar and Urban have a nice battle going on at the shortstop position.

“It is a nice surprise,” Schrage said. “Dan felt that he was a talented baseball player in high school. He wants to see where baseball can take him. He’s given football three years and felt that after three years of being a backup, what can I do with baseball career. The biggest thing with Dan is getting the rust off. But Dan has been a big surprise for us in the spring. He gives us a big left-handed bat. He’s the biggest surprise of the season.”