Feb. 25, 2011
Box Score
LUBBOCK, Texas - The Northern Illinois University softball team posted its first win of the season, shutting out Wichita State, 3-0, in the Huskies first game at the Jeannie McHaney Memorial Classic hosted by Texas Tech Friday afternoon.
The Huskies (1-6) received a dominating pitching performance from junior Morgan Bittner (Long Beach, Calif./Long Beach Poly), who pitched seven scoreless innings allowing three hits while striking out six. Northern Illinois also saw a strong day at the plate as the offense tallied seven hits, with the freshmen leading the way.
"The offense gave her [Morgan] a lead and I think that always takes a little bit of pressure off your shoulders when your pitching with a lead," NIU head coach Lindsay Chouinard said. "That's the first time all year that she's had one. She did a great job. She got ahead of hitters and worked both sides of the plate really well."
NIU opened the scoring with a run in the bottom of the second on freshman Nicole Germillion's (Missouri City, Texas/Elkins) double to left centerfield scoring fellow freshman Gianna Cipollone (Newport Beach, Calif./San Clemente) to give NIU a 1-0 lead.
Northern added to its lead in the bottom of the third when freshman Stephanie Tofft (Lincoln, Calif. Lincoln), who doubled to left field and advanced to third on a wild pitch, scored on a fielder's choice to give the Huskies a 2-0 advantage. Tofft drove in NIU's third and final run of the game in the bottom of the fourth when she singled through the right side driving in Germillion from second.
Three Huskies, Tofft, Cipollone and Germillion, had multi-hit games. Cipollone went a perfect 2-for-2 with a run scored, while Germillion was 2-for-3 with a RBI and run scored. Tofft went 2-for-4 from the plate with a RBI.
"Steph, Nicole and Gianna all did a great job in the first game," Chouinard said. "The bottom and top of the line up produced all our runs today."
The Huskies lost the second game of their doubleheader to No. 21 Texas Tech, 16-3. The Huskies scored both of their runs via the long ball. Germillion belted a first inning homer over the fence in right centerfield. However, NIU surrendered a five spot in the first and were unable to recover. Adriana Sanchez (San Fernando, Calif./Alemany) added two more runs to the Huskies total with a two-run blast over the left field fence in the fourth.
Northern Illinois resumes play at the Jeannie McHaney Memorial Classic tomorrow. The Huskies faces the same two teams Saturday as NIU takes on the Shockers at 10 a.m. and the Red Raiders at 4 p.m. Fans can follow all the action live via Gametracker and NIU's game versus Texas Tech will be available through RaiderVision All-Access at www.texastech.com.
-NIU
