EDWARDSVILLE – SIUE baseball opens the home portion of its schedule Friday with the start of four-game nonconference series with Northern Illinois.

The Cougars and Huskies will open the series with a 3 p.m. contest Friday afternoon. Saturday the teams will play two games with the first pitch scheduled for 1 p.m. Sunday's finale also is scheduled for a 1 p.m. first pitch.

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SIUE is 4-4 after splitting its first eight games, all coming away from home. Northern Illinois is 2-5. The Huskies are 1-1 in true road games this season.

The series is the start of a nine-game home stand for the Cougars, which is the longest of the season.

"It's going to be nice to be back home," SIUE Head Coach Sean Lyons said. "The weather should be good. Hopefully we'll get some fans out to see the 2017 version of Cougar baseball."

The series is the final nonconference weekend series before Ohio Valley Conference play begins, also at home.

"It is helpful to get a nonconference weekend at home ahead of starting the OVC season," Lyons added.

The Cougars enter the weekend with the fourth-best team earned run average in the OVC at 4.25 and Lyons noted that the rotation will remain unchanged for the third consecutive weekend.

"Nelson Martz has shown he deserves to be at the top, and Brock Fulkerson, Danny Ehrsam and Brendan Miller have pitched well," Lyons said. "When we go down to three-game series there will be some decisions to be made."

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Ehrsam leads the team with two wins in his first two starts. Martz is 1-1 in his first two outings. Mason McReacken and Devin Colley each have a pair of saves.

"To this point our guys have been able to throw strikes," he continued. "That gives everyone a chance moving forward."

Alec Skender is hitting .344 to lead the team in hitting among regulars. He has a team-high 11 hits. Keaton Wright is the RBI leader with seven.

Live stats are available for all four weekend games. Radio coverage will depend on SIUE women's basketball.

Probable Pitching Matchup

Game one: SIUE RHP Nelson Martz (1-1) vs. NIU RHP William Anderson (0-2)

Game two: SIUE RHP Brock Fulkerson (0-1) vs. NIU RHP Joe Hawks (0-1)

Game three: SIUE RHP Danny Ehrsam (2-0) vs. NIU RHP Nathan Thomas (1-0)

Game four: SIUE (0-0) vs. NIU RHP Donovin Sims (1-0)

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