March 30, 2010
DEKALB, Ill. - The Northern Illinois University softball team will look to build on the success of last week when it travels to Valparaiso to take on the Crusaders in doubleheader action Wednesday.
The two teams split last year's meeting in DeKalb, with the Huskies taking the first game, 5-3, and the Crusaders taking the nightcap. Northern Illinois owns a 25-7 advantage in the series. Valpo (18-7) enters play Wednesday riding a modest three-game winning streak and has won five of its last six.
The Huskies (10-16) went 4-1 last week with a doubleheader sweep of Western Illinois, shutting out the Fighting Leathernecks in both games and defeating South Dakota State, 7-6, in a thrilling come-from-behind victory, and blanking the host Cougars, 11-0, at the Cougar Classic over the weekend.
During that stretch, the Northern Illinois offense has come alive. As a team, NIU is batting .301, well above its season average of .248, with 30 runs scored, almost a third of its season total of 92.
Andrea Colosimo (Orland Park, Ill./Sandburg) has led the way for the Huskie offense. Colosimo, a junior, is batting .301 playing in all NIU's 26 games this season with a team-high 16 runs scored and 13 runs batted in with three doubles and a triple. Outfielders Zoe Sinner (Downers Grove, Ill./Downers Grove South) and Dani Parrish (Plainfield, Ind./Plainfield) have also swung the bat well. Sinner leads the team in home runs with four and RBIs with 13, while Parrish, who also has 13 RBIs, is second on the team in home runs with two.
"They're just starting to come together at the right time," NIU head coach Lindsay Chouinard said. "We've spent a lot of time talking about chemistry, how things gel, how the team needs to work together and what we need to do to be successful. We're starting to see those things come to fruition. Obviously we're young, but we're learning quickly."
One of the young players that's stepped up is freshman third baseman Adriana Sanchez (San Fernando, Calif./Alemany). She batted .438 and produced on several RBI chances in NIU's five games last week. She added an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth of NIU's 2-0 win over Western Illinois in the second game with the Leathernecks. Sanchez had an RBI in NIU's loss to Northwestern and in NIU's 7-6 come-from-behind victory over South Dakota State, she drove in the tying and go ahead runs on a single up the middle. In the Huskies' 11-0 win over SIUE, she went 2-for-3 with an RBI and two runs scored.
Fans can follow all the action of the Huskies and Crusaders live via Gametracker on NIUHuskies.com. First pitch of Game One is scheduled for 3 p.m. with Game Two immediately to follow.
-NIU-
