Coming into the season, the NIU baseball team had to replace 70 percent of the innings pitched it lost from 2008.

Little did head coach Ed Mathey know that things would get more complicated as the Huskies would lose two thirds of their weekend rotation to injury before MAC play even began, with Andy Deain and Brandon Copp going down.

“It’s definitely going to hurt,” Mathey said. “You lose [Deain] who was a second team All-MAC performer, and then Copp has thrown a lot of innings for us, and he’s shown a lot of versatility.”

Deain, a senior, suffered a broken finger earlier this season against Southeast Missouri State when he was hit with a line drive.

The injury will keep him out the rest of the season.

“I was disappointed for the team more than anything,” Deain said, who also missed playing his senior year of high school due to a torn ACL.

Deain, in his first year as a starter after making the transition from closer, was 2-1 with a 4.64 ERA on the year.

His NIU career isn’t necessarily over however. Deain will apply for a medical redshirt after the year, which he and Mathey say should go through.

“We don’t anticipate any problems with that,” Mathey said. “Until you get that thing signed and sealed, you never want to say you’re 100 percent sure.”

Luckily, Copp’s injury isn’t as serious.

The senior has a strained tendon in his elbow and hasn’t thrown in a month. Copp will start playing catch early next week.

“The first start I made it was bothering me a little bit,” Copp said. “It just gradually got worse, and I just wanted to get it looked at.”

When Copp returns he will probably start out in the bullpen, which should be in two to three weeks.

“I’m hoping for two weeks; I think [the coaches] are hoping for three,” Copp said. “The sooner the better.”

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