Baseball: Northern Illinois went 2-3 during the week, but grabbed a critical series victory during the weekend against Eastern Michigan. After a 13-2 loss to UW-Milwaukee and a 4-3 defeat at Bradley, the Huskies rebounded with a tight 1-0 victory in the series opener against the Eagles of EMU. The home-standing Eagles would even the series with a 7-5 win on Saturday, but NIU took the three-game set with a 3-1 win.

Softball: The Huskies struggled in the diamond, but gained a big victory in MAC action. NIU began their week with a 12-3 loss against Northwestern. Yet, Northern grabbed a big 4-3 win against league-leading Bowling Green before losing the second game, 15-2. The Huskies would finish their weekend with two losses in a Sunday doubleheader at Toledo by 10-0 and 4-3 margins.

Track & Field: Northern Illinois capped its regular season off on a high note over the weekend at the Drake Relays and UW-Whitewater Alternative Meet. In Des Moines, the Huskies posted two top-five finishes, including a third-place finish in the 4x100 relay, and broke five school records. At UW-Whitewater, NIU brought home six event titles, while seven different athletes set new personal records.

Women's Golf: NIU concluded its 2011-12 season with an eighth-place finish at the 2012 Mid-American Conference Women's Golf Championships at Hawthorns Golf & Country Club in Fishers, Ind. Sunday. Senior Kelsie Passolt finished her NIU career on high note, turning in her lowest score of the season for a three-round event carding a 223 (78-80-75) to tie for eighth place, a career-best finish at the MAC Championships.

Men's Tennis: With a 3-2 lead late in the contest, the Huskies fell to Western Michigan in the Mid-American Conference Tournament semifinals, 4-3. The Huskies end their impressive 2012 season 21-7.

Women's Tennis: Northern Illinois dropped its quarterfinal matchup of the Mid-American Conference Tournament against the No. 2-seeded Akron Zips (22-3, 7-1 MAC) on Friday, 4-0. The loss marked the end of the Huskies' season as the team finished with an 11-12 overall record and a 2-6 mark in MAC play.

Three NIU teams will compete in the last week before final exams. Men's golf hosts the MAC Championships at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove, Ill., starting Friday. Meanwhile, baseball takes on Northwestern at Elfstrom Stadium in Geneva, Ill., and travels to UIC before hosting Central Michigan in a three-game weekend series, while softball caps off their regular season with games at Notre Dame and Western Michigan.

Former NIU football player Ron Delisi was inducted into the Chicago Catholic League Hall of Fame earlier this month. A linebacker from Gordon Tech, Delisi starred with the Huskies from 1986-89, earning Honorable Mention All-American honors in both 1988 and '89. Delisi was a team captain and MVP in 1989 and ranks in the top-five in school history in total tackles. As a senior at Gordon Tech, Delisi earned the Tony Lawless Award as the MVP of the Catholic League; he also earned All-State honors from the Chicago Sun-Times and the Chicago Tribune.

This past week, Northern Illinois senior student-athletes Kristin Hoffman (volleyball), Tanya Rachan (gymnastics) and Jenner Sio (track & field) were each honored at the 2012 Outstanding Women Student Awards for their contributions to Northern Illinois University.  The NIU Presidential Commission on the Status of Women distributed the awards to 43 women from across all disciplines at Northern Illinois.  The Outstanding Women Student Awards have been held since 1980 and celebrate women students for their achievements and contributions.  

Hoffman is an All-American on the court and in the classroom as she helped lead the Huskies to the MAC regular season title.  The history major has already won an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship and has been admitted to law school at Valparaiso University.

Rachan finished her career with an appearance on floor exercise at the NCAA Regionals after winning the state title and taking second place in the Mid-American Conference on floor.  She scored the first 9.900 for NIU on floor since 2005 and also led the Huskies on vault and competed on balance beam.  A biology major, Rachan plans to attend dental school.

Sio boasts a perfect 4.0 GPA in business management. The senior earned six top-five finishes in the long jump and triple jump during the indoor season, and broke her own school record in the triple jump during the season.  She also owns the NIU outdoor triple jump mark.  

Northern Illinois' 2012 football game versus Army at Michie Stadium in West Point will kick off at Noon (ET)/11 a.m. (CT) on Saturday, Sept. 15 and be televised by CBS Sports Network.  CBS Sports Network is available to 99 million homes nationwide as well as via satellite on DirecTV Channel 613 and Dish Network Channel 158.

NIU fans interested in following the Huskies to New York and take in the game, as well as the sights of New York City, can check out several travel packages available through Premiere Global Sports online at niusportstravel.com or by calling Premiere Global Sports at 855-329-9274.

Northern Illinois game on Wednesday, Nov. 14 versus Toledo at Huskie Stadium will kickoff at 8 p.m. (CT) and air on ESPN2 or ESPNU.  The remainder of NIU's 2012 game times will be announced by the MAC and Northern Illinois later this summer.  

Former NIU standout Xavier Silas made his NBA debut on Wednesday for the Philadelphia 76ers against the Milwaukee Bucks. Silas came off the bench for the Sixers, playing a little over 18 minutes while scoring five points. With his first action, Silas became the first Huskie to play in an NBA game since Donald Whiteside's last appearance with the Atlanta Hawks on November 4, 1997.

In his second NBA game on Thursday night, Silas scored six points, grabbed three rebounds and had two assists against Detroit

Scott Powers of ESPN Chicago caught up with Silas to talk about receiving his call from the Sixers.

The Northern Illinois University football team conducted its 15th and final practice of the spring with the Huskies' Red-White scrimmage at Huskie Stadium Saturday afternoon. Quarterback Jordan Lynch starred as the Red squad defeated the White team, 31-6. Lynch eliminated any doubts Huskie fans had that he could succeed Chandler Harnish, throwing for 402 yards and four touchdowns. 

Football: Quarterback Jordan Lynch showed that he plans a seamless transition into the starting role as he threw for 402 yards on 29-of-44 passing with four touchdowns Saturday at Huskie Stadium in Northern Illinois' Red-White Spring Football Game. Lynch led the Red team, composed of the Huskie starting units on offense and defense, to a 31-6 victory over the White team in the final spring football practice of 2012.

Baseball: Despite strong pitching, the Huskies were swept at home over the weekend by the Toledo Rockets. The series opened with a 7-3 win by UT despite the Huskies holding the lead through seven innings. The Huskie offense struggled again on Saturday with a 5-1 loss, then dropped the finale in extras by a 4-3 margin.

Softball: It was a rough week for Northern Illinois as they lost all five games during the week. The week began with a 6-1 loss at UIC before hitting the road for two MAC series. Things did not improve at Ohio, though, as NIU dropped both games of a doubleheader, 4-1 and 9-3. The Huskies fell Saturday at Akron, 8-6, then closed out the week with a 12-6 defeat against the Zips.

Track & Field: The Huskies had a big week at two major meets during the weekend, breaking five school records between the Kansas Relays and Mt. SAC Relays. On Thursday, Courtney Oldenburg broke her own NIU mark in the 1500 meters with a 4:27.64 run, while Juliane Totzke toppled the 10,000 meters record with a 36:23.93 clip. Friday saw Chanel Kellyman set a new record in the 100 meters and Roneisha Frye (100 hurdles) and Rebecca Cronin (800 meters) added their names to the record books on Saturday.

Men's Golf: The Northern Illinois men's golf team wrapped up the regular season portion of its schedule with a seventh-place finish at the Boilermaker Invitational at the Kampen Course on the Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex. Freshman Thomas Dunne was the top-finishing Huskie, taking 13th with a final round 75.

Men's Tennis: The Northern Illinois men's tennis team surpassed the 20-win plateau for the first time since 1989 Friday with wins over Chicago State, 7-0, and Illinois-Chicago, 5-0. The Huskies close the regular season with a regular season record of 21-6 and MAC record of 4-1.

Women's Tennis: The Huskies dropped their final two regular season games at home this weekend. NIU was swept by Akron, 7-0, on Saturday, then dropped their Senior Day showdown with Buffalo, 5-2. The squad finishes their regular season at 11-11 overall and 2-6 in the MAC.

Six Huskie teams will compete this week. Three programs (men's tennis, women's tennis and women's golf) will head to their respective MAC Championships, including women's tennis hosting the conference tournament in DeKalb. In addition, softball hosts their final home game of the year Wednesday against Northwestern and baseball welcomes Milwaukee on Tuesday.

The NFL Draft is now a week away and the publicity for former NIU quarterback Chandler Harnish is picking up. Jeff Dickerson of ESPNChicago.com posted this story on the NFL hopeful yesterday in his Bears Report blog. Dennis Dillon of SI.com filed this excellent article on Harnish today. 

On April 15, 1947 Jackie Robinson played in his first Major League Baseball game with the Brooklyn Dodgers, helping them defeat the Boston Braves, 5-3. Though he finished 0-for-3 at the plate, he scored one run and recorded a sacrifice hit in the team's win.

Just another ball game right? Wrong. Robinson took his first step towards changing the landscape of the United States by playing in the game, becoming the first African-American to play in the league and engraining himself in Civil Rights icon. That same season, Robinson aided Brooklyn to its first World Series Championship since 1920. 

Fast forward to today, and the No. 42 is retired by every franchise in MLB, with only one player still wearing the jersey (Mariano Rivera wore the number before it was retired in 1997). 

As I sat in the baseball press box at Miami of Ohio on Sunday morning, I decided to take a look at Twitter and see what was happening in the world of sports. Since Sunday marked the 65th anniversary of Robinson's debut, The Sporting News tweeted out a link to their feature story on Robinson's debut in their April 23, 1947 issue and it the got the wheels in my head spinning.

I was promptly reminded by myself that NIU baseball has a first person connection with Jackie Robinson, through his foundation of course, in senior third baseman Troy White, senior from Chicago and a Jackie Robinson Foundation Scholar. At the beginning of March, received the Nike Award for his work with Cit Cubs program, working alongside Theo Epstien, President of Baseball Operations with the Chicago Cubs.

All accolades aside, White was spectacular for the Huskies on Sunday as he finished the day 7-for-11 at the plate with six RBI, a home run, a double and three runs in NIU's doubleheader. It was an amazing thing to witness at McKie Field on the Miami campus. The Redhawks press box workers simply asked "What's he going to do next?" It was that impressive.

I guess it was meant to be though. Friday, Phil Hersh ran an article in The Chicago Tribune about White's journey to NIU and his off the diamond works and happenings. When I returned to DeKalb, there was a stack of newspapers and a magazine article with a picture of Rachel Robinson, Jackie's widowed wife, and a yellow Post-it note with the words "Troy White reference" and an arrow point out to where in the article.

I read the paragraph and smiled, closed the magazine with my finger saving the page and I saw a picture of Bubba Watson underneath the iconic words "Sports Illustrated" splashed on the front. White was referenced in the article as a success story of the Jackie Robinson Foundation. Check it out and see for yourself.

Needless to say it was a pretty good weekend for NIU baseball. Not only did the program sweep Miami (Ohio) for the first time since the teams first met in 1968, there was also some good press, and that's a good. 

My final contribution to the article, a shameless plug for the Northern Illinois Baseball Twitter feed...

For everything NIU baseball, follow on Twitter @NIU_Baseball or click the follow link below.

Follow @NIU_Baseball

Baseball: The Huskies' week got off to a rough start Tuesday when they were dealt a 22-3 loss from Illinois State. The team rebounded quite well on Friday, as NIU took an 8-7 victory against the Miami (Ohio) RedHawks. Following Saturday's washout, the Huskies claimed the series behind a 7-5 victory in Sunday's first game, then got the sweep in the night cap with a wild 13-11 win against MU.

Softball: Northern Illinois went 2-3 during their week-long homestand at Mary M. Bell Field. On Tuesday, the Huskies' bats were silenced in a 6-1 decision against DePaul. Things would not improve on Friday, as NIU got swept in a doubleheader against Buffalo, 7-3 and 8-3. The team got back on the winning track Saturday with a 7-3 win against Kent State, then completed the two-game sweep with a 9-4 win on Senior Day.

Track & Field: The Northern Illinois track & field team closed out their weekend at the Lee Calhoun Memorial Invitational on a high note, taking four event titles Saturday in Macomb, Ill. Despite holding several of their top performers out of the meet, the Huskies took third place in the 13-team field with 126 points. Marquette won the meet with 202 points, while host Western Illinois was runner-up with 165.5 points.

Men's Golf: Junior Kurtis Luedtke recorded his best collegiate tournament finish, tying for eighth, helping lead Northern Illinois to a tie for fourth place at the COG Mizzou Intercollegiate. The Huskies posted a final round score of 298 to finish the 54-hole event with a total of 887, tied with IUPUI. Host Missouri won the team title for the second consecutive season with a total score of 856, the Tigers' Ryan Zech took individual medalist honors with an eight-under score of 208.

Women's Golf: The Huskies finished seventh at the Falcon Invitational hosted by Bowling Green Friday and Saturday. Allie Parthie moved up seven spots after trimming two strokes off her first round score of 80 to card a 158 and finish in ninth. Senior Kelsie Passolt made the biggest jump, climbing 15 spots to 22nd after posting a second round 80 to finish with a 163.

Men's Tennis: NIU went 1-1 over the weekend in their final home matches of the season. The Huskies stopped Toledo Saturday, 5-2, to move to 3-0 in MAC play. However, the team's unbeaten streak came to an end Sunday when Buffalo topped Northern, 5-2, in Rockford.

Women's Tennis: The Huskies split their two MAC matches for the second straight week. On Friday, NIU was bested by conference-leading Miami (Ohio), 6-1, in Oxford. The team ended their road trip on a positive note, though, with a tight 4-3 win against Ball State.

Six Huskie teams are in action during the upcoming week. The big event in DeKalb this weekend in SpringFest, which takes place Saturday with the Spring Football Game, baseball playing Toledo and women's tennis battling Akron.