April 18, 2008
Game-One Stats in PDF Format 
Game-Two Stats in PDF Format
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - The Northern Illinois softball team split a doubleheader with Bowling Green (10-20, 8-3) in Mid-American Conference action on Friday afternoon at BGSU Softball Field.
The Falcons took the first game, 5-2, behind a strong pitching performance from Hayley Wiemer. The Huskies (10-22, 4-6) salvaged the second game, 3-2, on a solo home run in the eighth inning by senior Michelle Nendza (Palos Park, Ill./Lemont Mt. Assisi).
NIU fell behind, 3-0, early in game-one after the Falcons scored a run in the second inning and two in the third behind a two-run double from Allison Vallas off senior Taryn Hagemann (Rochelle, Ill./Rochelle). Bowling Green would later add two more runs in the fifth to go up 5-0.
The Huskies cut the deficit to 5-2 in the seventh after junior Emily Gooding (Lismore, Australia/Lake Land CC) reached second on a two-base error and scored on an RBI single from Katie Colby (Waukesha, Wis./West).
Wiemer (8-4) earned the win after giving up only the unearned run, scattering five hits along with four strikeouts in seven frames.
After taking the loss, Hagemann fell to 3-8 on the season as she pitched 4.2 innings, allowing four earned runs on seven hits with a pair of walks and strikeouts.
For the Huskie offense, senior Jenna Mitchell (Matteson, Ill./Rich South) tallied two hits. Colby, senior Krista McPherson (Beecher, Ill./Beecher) and junior Jenna Roberts (Verona, Wis./West) each had one hit apiece.
In game-two, both teams plated two runs in the first inning as the Huskies scored their two runs on an RBI double from Roberts that scored Mitchell, who walked and stole second, and an RBI single by Gooding that plated Roberts, who stole third.
Bowling Green scored on a Wiemer two-run homer off Hagemann.
Both teams then proceeded to hold each other in check for the next six frames as freshman Joreigh Landers relieved Hagemann after only one inning and gave up two hits with four walks and a strikeout over those six innings.
Nendza then broke the scoreless streak in the eighth after she blasted a solo homer to left-center with two outs off Emily Gouge to put NIU up, 3-2.
"Michelle had a bit of a rough day, but did come through with a big hit," said Chouinard. "She had some early opportunities to drive in runs and we don't normally like to rely on home runs to get wins, but she has great bat speed and when she turns her shoulders she can really drive the ball."
Landers (3-4) then proceeded to finish off her strong performance with a perfect eighth to earn the win after pitching seven shut-out innings with four walks and three strikeouts.
"Joreigh pitched the way she is capable of and should pitch that way everytime," said NIU head coach Lindsay Chouinard. "She hit her spots when she needed to, but did have a few more walks than you would like. She had been struggling a bit and moved to the bullpen where she showed me that her hard worked has paid off."
Gouge dropped to 2-10, taking the loss after pitching all eight innings while allowing three earned runs along with a walk and 15 strikeouts.
Colby and Roberts each had two hits for the Huskie offense. McPherson, Nendza and Gooding each had a hit as well.
The Huskies head to Toledo, Ohio for games against Toledo (13-20, 3-9) at 11 a.m. on Saturday and 12 p.m. on Sunday.
-NIU-
