The Chippewas welcome rival Western Michigan Friday night and Northern Illinois Saturday night as they attempt to stretch their winning streak to seven matches and take out a couple teams ahead of them in the MAC West standings.

“It’s a very good one-two punch and this time around, their rankings are the highest they’ve been,” said head coach Erik Olson. “It’s a pretty powerful weekend.”

The Broncos come in ranked No. 34 in the nation in RPI rankings, while the Huskies are ranked No. 23. CMU is ranked No. 105 in the nation out of 327 teams.

“It should be a must-win,” said senior middle blocker Kaitlyn Schultz. “It’s our last home matches and we think it should be an exciting atmosphere.”

But Olson isn’t worried about the rankings and believes they’re a non-factor when it comes to playing WMU and NIU. He looks at these matches as a great opportunity for his team to show what it has.

There is a big difference between this team now from where it was five weeks ago when it started MAC play in DeKalb, Ill. and Kalamazoo.

“We’ve come together and we’ve learned how to finish, which is a big improvement from last year to this year,” Schultz said. “We’re working together and communicating better.”

Schultz and junior outside hitter Val DeWeerd were returning off calf injuries and still weren’t at 100 percent while junior right side hitter Jocelyn VerVelde was still out the last time these teams met.

They’re all back and Olson has a full roster in his arsenal.

“Last time we played them (WMU and NIU) we had three players out of position,” Olson said.

When the Chippewas faced the Broncos, CMU recorded 13 errors, when it can’t have a repeat of that if it hopes to win this weekend.

“We just need to play cleaner volleyball and make them play,” Olson said. “We had them scouted pretty well last time and executed without three players, so I’m excited to go with our lineup.”

NIU

The Huskies present different problems as they have sophomore outside hitter Lauren Wicinski leading the way. She won MAC Freshman of the Year and MAC Player of the Year. She is the first player to ever win both awards in the same year.

“They (NIU) have a great team and they use one player (Wicinski) a lot.” Olson said. “I don’t know if you can stop her, but you have to slow her down.”

Olson lives by the “You can’t stop, you can only hope to contain,” mindset when it comes to her.

“Most teams have tried to completely shut her down, but that leaves the rest of the team wide open,” Olson said. “I don’t think you can ever discount five other players.”

However, the Chippewas have home court advantage (5-1 at home) and it will be seniors Schultz and setter Catherine Ludwig’s final home matches, so the team will be riding a lot of emotion to go with its confidence from its winning streak.

“It’s sad, I won’t be here again, but very exciting for senior day because I haven’t had one of those since high school,” Schultz said. “It should be really exciting to see what happens.”

Head coach Dan Enos talked about it following practices as well as post game interviews on how his offense needs to “stay on schedule.”

The team needs to gain at least some yards on first and second down to create third and manageable situations.

CMU was 2-for-12 converting on third downs last week against Michigan State where it finished with a 45-7 loss. The average yards to go on third down was 9. CMU only had two attempts with third and short, converting one.

Eight possessions were situated in third and longs because of incomplete passes on first down.

“We had how many balls batted on first down today?” Enos asked after the MSU game. “The defensive line was getting a push. We had wide receivers open on several occasions and we need that to make yards and be on schedule.”

Saturday at Kelly/Shorts Stadium, CMU (1-3) plays Northern Illinois (2-2). The Huskies defense was exposed on first downs last week against Cal Poly. The Mustangs ran it 27 times on first down, averaging 5 yards a carry.

Cal Poly scored two rushing touchdowns on first down and had a 23-yard gain. However, NIU still won 47-30.

On defense the Chippewas will have to be sharp on first down, since that’s when NIU seems to be most efficient. Last week, the Huskies ran it 31 times for 242 yards and two touchdowns on first down. Quarterbacks were also 9-for-9 with 99 yards and a touchdown in those situations.

Meanwhile, the Spartans racked up 23 first downs to only eight by the Chippewas.

Offensive line issues were also exposed during the MSU game for the Chippewas as CMU ran the ball six times on first down and averaged 1.67 yards per carry. Enos pointed out problems with the passing game that the offensive line could’ve avoided.

“We got balls batted, or (the quarterback) is getting hit as he lets it go,” Enos said. “We got overmatched in there at times.”

Against Western Michigan two weeks ago the Chippewas had a more balanced attack on first down. They ran it 17 times, averaging five yards a carry. Meanwhile, quarterback Ryan Radcliff was 7-of-11 for 87 yards, all on first down. That first down success helped lead to 20 CMU first downs and 362 total yards on offense.

“If we’re running on first down, we got to get 3, 4, 5 yards,” said CMU quarterback Ryan Radcliff. “We don’t want to be in second and long, that’s what gets us, that’s what gets any team. If it’s a pass play, we got to get that completion and stay on schedule.”

CMU lost the rubber match of this weekend’s series against Northern Illinois 3-2 Sunday in DeKalb, Ill.

For the second time in three days, an inability to get timely hitting cost the Chippewas, who now sit a game behind MAC West Division leaders Toledo and Ball State.

Northern Illinois used four hits in the first inning to take a 1-0 lead on junior right-hander Jake Sabol.

CMU (24-18, 12-6 MAC) threatened in the second with three consecutive singles to load the bases, but could not produce any runs to show for it. The Chippewas left 14 runners on base for the game, more than the 10 they left stranded in Friday’s 4-1 loss.

“We couldn’t get a hit in scoring position, it’s that simple,” said coach Steve Jaksa.

They would, however, tie the game at 1 in the fourth inning following an RBI single by senior Billy Anderson (2-for-5).

An error by junior shortstop Robbie Harman in the fifth inning and subsequent wild pitch led to the Huskies’ second run of the game.

“We pitched very well but we had one unearned run that gets magnified because we couldn’t get a hit with anyone on base today for some reason,” Jaksa said. “Consequently, that one run makes a huge difference because it was unearned.”

NIU (18-25, 8-10 MAC) added another run in the eighth with a solo home run by Joe Buonavolanto.

The Chippewas made another late-game rally in the ninth, cutting the deficit to 3-2 and getting the tying runner on base, but not complete the comeback effort as sophomore Scott Phillion grounded into a fielder’s choice and freshman Jordan Dean struck out swinging.

“We were a hit away from being in the game, even in the ninth, but earlier in the game were a hit away from being in the lead,” Jaksa said. “We had 12 hits but we needed to bunch them closer together to get some (more) runs.”

Senior Dale Cornstubble went 2-for-5 with a run scored.

Sabol (4-5) took the loss, giving up two runs (one earned) on six hits in 4 2/3 innings pitched. Sophomore left-handed reliever Trent Howard allowed one run on four hits in 3 1/3 innings after getting the win in CMU’s 8-7 victory yesterday.

CMU will take the week off for finals before traveling to Ohio at 3 p.m. Friday for a pivotal conference series against Toledo.

With the score tied 7-7 heading into the ninth inning, senior James Teas singled up the middle to score Matt Faiman as the go-ahead run.

Northern Illinois (17-25, 7-10 Mid-American Conference) jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the first inning before CMU responded with three of its own in the second.

After both teams traded runs in their respective halves of the fourth and fifth innings, NIU scored three runs of its own in the bottom of the fifth to take a 6-4 lead.

CMU (24-17, 12-5 MAC) responded once again in the eighth, as a pinch-hit double from freshman Jordan Dean and single by junior shortstop Robbie Harman gave the Chippewas a 7-6 lead.

Sophomore left-handed reliever Trent Howard (3-2) earned the win, giving up one run on one hit in two innings pitched. Freshman left-hander Dietrich Enns started the game and gave up five runs (four earned) on four hits in 4 1/3 innings.

CMU looks to win the series when both teams play the last game of the series at 2 p.m. today.

The Central Michigan baseball team could only manufacture one run on six hits and dropped out of first place in the Mid-American Conference West Division in a 4-1 loss against Northern Illinois in DeKalb, Ill.

Senior right-hander Jesse Hernandez (6-2) took the loss, his first in conference play, after allowing three runs on six hits in 7 2/3 innings pitched.

“Jesse pitched very, very well,” said coach Steve Jaksa. “They got two 2-out hits with guys in scoring position that were big. I thought one was a good pitch and another just a fluke hit.”

CMU (23-16, 11-5 MAC) threatened in the first inning but left runners on base without scoring. Senior Billy Anderson led off with a double and sophomore Nate Theunissen walked, setting up runners on the corners, but senior James Teas flew out to end the scoring opportunity.

Northern Illinois rallied with two outs in the second inning to take a 2-0 lead. After Hernandez got a pair of quick outs, two singles and a wild pitch put NIU runners in scoring position for right fielder Jake Hermsen, who singled and put the Huskies on the board.

The Chippewas had another opportunity to score in the third following a single by junior Matt Faiman (2-for-5, run scored) and Theunissen’s second walk. But, just like in the first, Teas concluded CMU’s charge by hitting into a fielder’s choice.

“We were disappointed in the final result but, reflecting on the game, we made very minimal mistakes,” Jaksa said. “I thought we hit the ball hard – we just hit it at people. We hit five liners and didn’t get anything for it.”

An RBI single by Theunissen (2-for-2) in the eighth inning scored Faiman, who doubled to left center to lead off the inning, and put CMU on the board. A ground out and wild pitch moved Theunissen to third base with two outs, but pinch-hitter Tyler Kipkee grounded out to first.

NIU (17-24, 7-9 MAC) added two more runs in the eighth to extend its lead to 4-1.

“I give the guys credit because they just kept doing it (hitting the ball hard),” Jaksa said. “At the end of the day, when we look back, that’s when the frustration bothers you. During the game, each guy is just trying to do the best job they can.”

Ball State took sole possession of first in the MAC West Friday with a 13-12 comeback win against Eastern Michigan.

Both teams play the second game of the series at 2 p.m. today.

“We have to make sure we put this one behind us and not get frustrated by it,” Jaksa said. “It would be nice to go out there and get runs and find some open areas but, at the same time, we have to stay with it. We still got some games to play – we got to keep fighting.”

The Chippewas (23-15 overall, 11-4 MAC) are in a first place tie with Ball State for the West Division lead. NIU is 15-24 overall and 6-9 in the conference.

Sophomore first basemen Nate Theunissen said this is an important weekend for the team to maintain its first place lead.

“It is going to be real big. We need to get back on the winning track in the MAC,” Theunissen said. “Everyone is really hungry for this MAC win. The team is really ready for this weekend.”

CMU relinquished its solo lead for first place last weekend after losing both games of a doubleheader on Saturday against Ball State.

NIU has won four of its last six games, including a 6-1 win on Sunday over third-place Toledo (24-17, 10-5 MAC). Senior Dave Reynolds leads the Huskies with a .312 batting average and 19 runs batted in. He has started in every game this season for NIU.

Senior right-hander Jesse Hernandez (6-1, 4.07 ERA) will get the start for the Chippewas today and is looking for team-leading seventh win of the season.

“There is no question we are going to be ready to play,” said coach Steve Jaksa. “We are confident and I like our guys’ attitude. We have to play well on Friday and take it one day at a time.”

Freshman Dietrich Enns (4-0) will make his second start of the season on Saturday for CMU and looks to keep his hot streak going.

He has a 1.14 earned run average with 39 strikeouts and has only allowed five earned runs in his last 39.1 innings pitched.

OAKLAND LOSS

Sunday’s starter has yet to be determined as junior left-hander Jake Sabol pitched 2 2/3 innings, allowing three hits and striking out four, in Wednesday’s 10-9 loss against Oakland University.

“I think our morale is good,” Jaksa said. “I think our guys are a confident group. You don’t want to let it just roll off of your back, but we think we are a good team and we have to make sure we are ready to play.”

CMU let a two-run eighth-inning lead slip away as errors allowed the Golden Grizzlies to score three runs and come-from-behind in Wednesday’s win.

Senior third baseman James Teas had three hits and two RBIs, while walking twice for the Chippewas. Sophomore outfielder Sam Russell added a hit and three RBIs.

Sophomore left-hander Rick Dodridge started for CMU, pitching 4 1/3 innings and allowing seven earned runs while striking out four.

The Chippewas are on the road until May 11 when they face Oakland in a rematch at Theunissen Stadium.