# Northern Illinois Huskies baseball

The Northern Illinois Huskies baseball team is a varsity intercollegiate athletic team of Northern Illinois University (NIU) in DeKalb, Illinois, United States. The team is a member of the Mid-American Conference (MAC), which is part of the NCAA Division I. NIU's first baseball team was fielded in 1900. The team plays its home games at Ralph McKinzie Field in DeKalb, Illinois. The Huskies are currently led by head coach Ryan Copeland, who will begin his 1st season with the team in 2024.

## History

As of 2021, Northern Illinois and Akron are the only current or former MAC schools not to have a player named the MAC Baseball Player of the Year or MAC Baseball Pitcher of the Year since those awards were first given in 1986 and 1988 respectively.
NIU has currently not reached the NCAA tournament since joining the MAC nor have they won the Mid-American Conference baseball tournament, currently being one of only two MAC schools to not win one. They last had a chance in 1996 as MCC champion but lost a play-in series to Northeastern Illinois.

### Conference membership

* 1900–22: Independent
* 1923–66: Illinois Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
* 1967: Independent
* 1968–70: NCAA Division I Independent
* 1971–73: Midwestern Conference
* 1974–82: Mid-American Conference
* 1983-91: NCAA Division I Independent
* 1992–94: Mid-Continent Conference
* 1995–97: Midwestern Collegiate Conference
* 1998 to present: Mid-American Conference (West Division)

## NCAA Tournament

Northern Illinois has participated in the NCAA Division I baseball tournament once.
| Year | Round | Opponent | Result |
| 1972 | Quarterfinals Lower Round 1 | Bowling Green Iowa | L 0–2 L 1–8 |

## Year-by-year results

Statistics overview :
| Season | Coach | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason |
| 1900 | Fred Charles | 3–3 | | | |
| 1901 | Fred Charles | 3–5–1 | | | |
| 1902 | Fred Charles | 2–2 | | | |
| 1903 | A.F. Johnson | 4–0 | | | |
| 1904 | Henry Stiness | 7–4 | | | |
| 1905 | A.C. Kinsbury | 5–1 | | | |
| 1907 | Nelson A. Kellogg | 4–5 | | | |
| 1908 | Nelson A. Kellogg | 5–6 | | | |
| 1909 | Nelson A. Kellogg | 7–4 | | | |
| 1910 | Nelson A. Kellogg | 10–2 | | | |
| 1912 | William Wirtz | 5–3 | | | |
| 1913 | William Wirtz | 3–4–1 | | | |
| 1914 | William Wirtz | 5–4 | | | |
| 1915 | William Wirtz | 3–2 | | | |
| 1916 | William Wirtz | 8–1 | | | |
| 1917 | William Wirtz | 5–1 | | | |
| 1920 | Robert G. Buzzard | 10–3 | | | |
| 1921 | Paul Harrison | 3–3–1 | | | |
| 1922 | Paul Harrison | 4–7 | | | |
| 1923 | Paul Harrison | 4–3 | | | |
| 1924 | William Muir | 7–3 | N/A | 1st | |
| 1925 | William Muir | 11–0 | N/A | 1st | |
| 1926 | William Muir | 6–3 | | | |
| 1927 | Roland Cowell | 2–3 | | | |
| 1928 | Roland Cowell | 7–2 | | | |
| 1929 | Roland Cowell | 3–3 | | | |
| 1930 | Chick Evans | 5–7 | | | |
| 1931 | Chick Evans | 3–5 | | | |
| 1932 | Chick Evans | 3–4 | | | |
| 1933 | Chick Evans | 7–4–1 | | | |
| 1934 | Chick Evans | 6–4 | | | |
| 1935 | C. Nordly | 8–1 | | | |
| 1936 | Chick Evans | 5–6 | N/A | 1st | |
| 1937 | Chick Evans | 17–8 | | | |
| 1938 | Chick Evans | 10–12 | | | |
| 1939 | Chick Evans | 10–14 | | | |
| 1940 | Chick Evans | 14–12 | | | |
| 1941 | Chick Evans | 4–14 | | | |
| 1942 | Chick Evans | 8–9 | | | |
| 1943 | Chick Evans | 5–9 | | | |
| 1944 | Chick Evans | 1–9 | | | |
| 1945 | Ralph McKinzie | 8–1 | N/A | 1st | |
| 1946 | Chick Evans | 15–3 | 7–0 | 1st | |
| 1947 | Chick Evans | 13–5–2 | N/A | | |
| 1948 | John Pace | 11–11 | 4–3 | 3rd | |
| 1949 | Ralph McKinzie | 10–6 | 3–4 | | |
| 1950 | Ralph McKinzie | 16–8 | N/A | 1st | |
| 1951 | Ralph McKinzie | 11–6 | N/A | 1st | |
| 1952 | Ralph McKinzie | 5–12 | 3–7 | 4th | |
| 1953 | Ralph McKinzie | 6–12 | 2–6 | 5th | |
| 1954 | Ralph McKinzie | 5–15 | 4–8 | | |
| 1955 | Ralph McKinzie | 5–17 | 2–8 | | |
| 1956 | Ralph McKinzie | 4–13 | 3–9 | 6th | |
| 1957 | Darrel Black | 7–10–1 | 5–5 | 4th | |
| 1958 | Darrel Black | 8–18–1 | 7–10 | | |
| 1959 | Darrel Black | 13–14 | 9–8 | | |
| 1960 | Darrel Black | 12–15 | 5–6 | 6th | |
| 1961 | Darrel Black | 20–13–1 | 7–8 | 4th | |
| 1962 | Darrel Black | 13–21 | 5–7 | 4th | |
| 1963 | Darrel Black | 17–17 | 6–6 | 4th | |
| 1964 | Thomas L. Meyer | 23–5 | 10–2 | 1st | |
| 1965 | Thomas L. Meyer | 15–17–1 | 6–6 | 2nd | |
| 1966 | Thomas L. Meyer | 13–6–1 | 6–2 | 2nd | |
| 1967 | Thomas L. Meyer | 20–14–1 | | | |
| 1968 | Thomas L. Meyer | 13–14–1 | | | |
| 1969 | Thomas L. Meyer | 16–19 | | | |
| Dave Mason (1970–1971) ||||||
| 1970 | Dave Mason | 18–15–1 | | | |
| 1971 | Dave Mason | 24–15 | 5–6 | | |
| Wayne Franke (1972–1972) ||||||
| 1972 | Wayne Franke | {{{overall}}} | {{{conference}}} | | |
| 2000 | Dave Schrage | 24–33 | 11–15 | 6th (West) | |
| 2001 | Dave Schrage | 28–27 | 10–17 | 5th (West) | |
| 2002 | Dave Schrage | 23–32 | 11–14 | 5th (West) | |
| Ed Mathey (2003–2014) ||||||
| 2003 | Ed Mathey | 34–24 | 15–11 | 3rd (West) | |
| 2004 | Ed Mathey | 31–28 | 14–10 | 2nd (West) | |
| 2005 | Ed Mathey | 16–36 | 8–16 | 6th (West) | |
| 2006 | Ed Mathey | 24–31 | 8–18 | 6th (West) | |
| 2007 | Ed Mathey | 34–24 | 16–11 | 3rd (West) | |
| 2008 | Ed Mathey | 28–26 | 16–10 | 2nd (West) | |
| 2009 | Ed Mathey | 19–34 | 10–16 | | |
| 2010 | Ed Mathey | 24–31 | 12–15 | 5th (West) | |
| 2011 | Ed Mathey | 30–27 | 16–11 | | |
| 2012 | Ed Mathey | 15–40 | 7–20 | | |
| 2013 | Ed Mathey | 22–34 | 16–11 | 1st (West) | |
| 2014 | Ed Mathey | 17–36–1 | 11–16 | 5th (West) | |
| Mike Kunigonis (2015–2023) ||||||
| 2015 | Mike Kunigonis | 22–33 | 10–17 | 5th (West) | |
| 2016 | Mike Kunigonis | 24–32 | 14–10 | 2nd (West) | |
| 2017 | Mike Kunigonis | 17–38 | 11–13 | 5th (West) | |
| 2018 | Mike Kunigonis | 20–36 | 9–18 | 10th | |
| 2019 | Mike Kunigonis | 20–36 | 14–12 | 5th | |
| 2020 | Mike Kunigonis | 7–10 | 0–0 | | Season canceled due to COVID-19 |
| 2021 | Mike Kunigonis | 16–38 | 15–25 | T-9th | |
| 2022 | Mike Kunigonis | 14–40 | 13–25 | 10th | |
| 2023 | Mike Kunigonis | 10–43 | 5–24 | 11th | |
| Ryan Copeland (2024–present) ||||||
| 2024 | Ryan Copeland | 21-33 | 14-16 | 7th | |
| Total: | Total: | 1447-1718-26 | | | |
| National champion   Postseason invitational champion   Conference regular season champion   Conference regular season and conference tournament champion  Division regular season champion  Division regular season and conference tournament champion  Conference tournament champion ||||||