MAC Tournament
No. 4 Miami RedHawks (36-17) vs. No. 5 Northern Illinois Huskies (18-34)
Wednesday, May 22 – 6 p.m.
No. 4 Miami RedHawks vs. TBD
Thursday, May 23 – 10 a.m. or 2 p.m. or 6 p.m.
Remember of Tournament Schedule TBD
Sprenger Stadium – Avon, Ohio

ON TAP
The Miami University baseball team is the fourth seed in the Mid-American Conference Tournament and opens play on Wednesday against fifth seed Northern Illinois at 6 p.m. All MAC Tournament games take place at Sprenger Stadium in Avon, Ohio and will all air live on ESPN+.

FUTURE GAMES
How the RedHawks fare against the Huskies will determine their future games in the event. The other opening game on Wednesday will see third seed Kent State against sixth seed Ohio. On Thursday, the first game of the day at 10 a.m. will be an elimination game between the two losers of Wednesday's games. At 2 p.m. top seed Central Michigan will be in action against the lower-seeded winner from Wednesday. At 6 p.m., second seed Ball State will take on the higher-seeded winner from Wednesday. Action continues through Sunday if necessary in the double elimination tournament. It would take four straight wins for Miami to earn its third MAC Tournament title all-time and first since 2005.

ABOUT NORTHERN ILLINOIS
Northern Illinois finished the regular season 18-34 overall and 14-12 in the MAC. The Huskies split two games against Bowling Green in their final MAC series last week. They dropped the Thursday game, 4-3, before rebounding to take a 7-5 victory on Friday. Saturday's finale was rained out. NIU has been at its best in high-scoring affairs. Its top offensive player is freshman outfielder Nick Drobusevich. He is batting .300 with two home runs and 40 RBIs. Its top pitcher has been sophomore right hander Michael Lasiewicz. He is 5-4 with a 4.48 ERA and 69 strikeouts in 66.1 innings pitched in 2019.

SERIES WITH NORTHERN ILLINOIS          
Miami holds a 40-25-1 lead in the all-time series with Northern Illinois. The Huskies took two out of three from the RedHawks this season, April 26-28 in Oxford. The Friday game saw Miami cruise to a 12-0 win as freshman pitcher Sam Bachman and senior pitcher Bailey Martin teamed up for the shutout. Saturday's game saw NIU jump on the 'Hawks early and hold on for a 6-3 win. Leading 2-0 after six innings on Sunday, the Huskies went on to score 11 runs in the final three innings to close out the series with a 13-3 victory.

UP AHEAD
Miami will need to win the MAC Tournament in order to continue its season. The winner of the event receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The NCAA Baseball Tournament selection show is on Monday, May 27 at noon on ESPNU. Regional action will take place May 31-June 3.