Ohio has slowed down following its 10-game win streak, which ended last weekend in Mount Pleasant against Central Michigan. After dropping two of three against Central Michigan, Ohio was unable to sweep Kent State ahead of a pivotal series against Northern Illinois.
The Bobcats (23-17, 13-5 Mid-American Conference) still sit atop the MAC standings, but are closely trailed by teams like the Huskies. The Bobcats are very close to hosting the MAC Tournament in Athens for the first time since 2018, but need to maintain the strong play that elevated them through the standings earlier in the season.
Here is the information for Ohio’s three-game series against Northern Illinois:
Series Information:
Opponent: Northern Illinois (18-18, 8-6 MAC)
Venue: Mary M. Bell Field, DeKalb, Ill.
Dates and Times: April 15 at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. and April 16 at 1 p.m.
The series live stream can be found here
The series stat broadcast can be found here
Meet the opponent
Individual statistical leaders
Batting average: Kelly Walinski (.362)
Hits: Walinski (38)
Home runs: Danielle Stewart (4)
RBI: Caitlyn Shumaker (21)
Innings pitched: Stewart (89.0)
ERA: Stewart (3.30)
Strikeouts: Stewart (66)
Notes:
Northern Illinois is not a team that will jump off the page in a statistical sense, but it knows how to get ugly wins. Although it has some strange results like sweeping Miami then dropping two of three games to Ball State, Northern Illinois has been able to keep itself in contention for one of the four spots in the MAC Tournament.
Northern Illinois is led by Danielle Stewart, a Shohei Ohtani-esqe two-way star. Although her batting average is a little low, her excellence in the circle stabilizes Northern Illinois' pitching staff. The one issue for Stewart has been the longball. She has given up 15 home runs this season, one more than the Huskies have hit as a team. The inability to keep the ball in the yard and to actually hit them has been a glaring weakness for Northern Illinois this season.
Series history:
This used to be a series that was dominated by the Bobcats, as a stretch from 2016-2021 saw the Bobcats lose just three times. Last season, though, the Huskies flipped the script, taking two of three games in Athens. Regardless, the Bobcats have been able to handle the Huskies both in regular season and postseason play for the better part of the last decade.
