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 Horizon League, 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 just finished his third season with the team by winning a 2026 MAC Championship and NCAA post-season game.
History , 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 reached the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1972 by winning the 2026 Mid-American Conference baseball tournament in their final season as a member of the MAC. They previously had a chance in 1996 as MCC champion but lost a play-in series to Northeastern Illinois.
NIU recorded their first ever NCAA Tournament win in the 2026 NCAA Division 1 Baseball Tournament by defeating Coastal Carolina 12-10 in the first round of the Tallahasse Regional.
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 twice. 1972 QuarterfinalsLower Round 1 Bowling GreenIowa L 0–2L 1–8 2026 Tallahassee Regional Coastal CarolinaSt. JohnsFlorida State W 12–10L 8–21L 4–7 (10)
Year-by-year results
See also List of NCAA Division I baseball programs
References
External links