By Bobby Narang
The Northern Illinois University baseball team made history this season.
But the NIU Huskies couldn’t add another memorable chapter in their season last week.
The Huskies lost both of their games in the NCAA Tallahassee Regional Sunday to end the best season in program history since 1972. The Huskies were the No. 3 seed in the regional.
I’m proud of our group, our toughness and our fight,” NIU third-year coach Ryan Copeland said. “This team changed the standards and expectations of NIU baseball forever. It hurts right now, but we have a lot to build on that’s good. The journey is special to get to this point, especially for a program like us that doesn’t have much in postseason experience. For a team with 20 new players to be this close and play for each other, I couldn’t be more prouder to be the head coach of this program.”
The Huskies (36-19) had a season to remember, but came into the 2026 campaign with low expectations, yet managed to win their first Mid-American Conference championship and earn the program’s first NCAA Tournament win this season, plus finished with a program record 36 victories.
The Huskies rode a big season by Gavin Baldwin, who fell one home run shy of equaling the single-season program record of 18 home runs by Colin Summerhill. Baldwin smashed two home runs in a loss to Florida State May 31. He ended his career with 33 home runs, which is the third-most in program history.
In an elimination game, NIU lost to top-seed Florida State 7-4 in 10 innings. The Seminoles, the No. 10 national seed, put up three runs in the 10th to knock off the Huskies.
“Gavin was outstanding in the postseason when it mattered most,” Copeland said. “He had a great season, nearly broke the home run record, and kept us in the game. Gavin brought some toughness to our program and a good dynamic.”
The Huskies got off to a memorable start in the tournament with a win over Coastal Carolina. They nearly reached the title game Sunday, but dropped a 21-8 decision to St. John’s despite seizing a 5-0 lead. chance earlier Sunday to advance straight into the championship game, but fell 21-8 to St. John’s after scoring the first five runs of the game.