Final Stats

CLEARWATER, Fla. - The Northern Illinois University softball team accomplished a rare feat Saturday in Clearwater, Florida, with shutout victories over Canisius and Quinnipiac.

The Huskies tipped the Golden Griffins, 2-0, before rolling past the Bobcats, 7-0, in the second half of the doubleheader. NIU notched two shutouts in the same day for the first time since March 23, 2010 (vs. Western Illinois) and blanked two different teams in the same day for the first time since March 14, 2006 (vs. Fordham and Buffalo).

"We just played really good defense and hit the ball well all day," said NIU Head Coach Christina Sutcliffe. "Anytime you have those two things, a shutout is possible."

Game One: NIU Clips Canisius, 2-0

Thanks to some clutch hitting, the Huskies kicked off their Saturday with a hard-fought 2-0 victory over Canisius.

With two on and two out in the top of the fourth, freshman Bekah Harnish (Maple Park, Ill./Burlington Central) laced a double into center field to give the Huskies a 2-0 lead they never relinquished.

NIU had its chances early against the Golden Griffins, but couldn't come through. In the first, Bryanna Phelan (Coal City, Ill./Coal City) led off with a single through the right side, then advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt. However, the senior ran into trouble when she was tagged out at third base on a groundball. Similarly, Caitlyn Warren (Naperville, Ill./Naperville North) singled in the third and stole second. Yet, she was tagged out on the base paths trying to steal third.

The Huskies finally got things to go their way in the fourth. With one out, Emily Naegele (Oak Forest, Ill./Oak Forest) and Jessica Sturm (Wichita, Kan./Goddard) strung together back-to-back singles. Two batters later, Harnish came through with the game-turning double to score Naegele and Sturm and put NIU out front, 2-0.

Pitcher Keegan Hayes (Naperville, Ill./Naperville Central) made that lead stick by handcuffing the Griffs' offense. The freshman scattered four hits over seven innings and allowed just eight baserunners the entire game.

Yet, Hayes was especially dominant in the last half of the game by surrendering just two hits over four innings. With two on and one out the sixth, the Naperville, Illinois, native denied Canisius' rally, forcing a pair of flyouts to end the frame and keep the Huskies' two-run lead intact.

In the final frame, Hayes didn't even give the Griffs a chance, forcing two groundouts and striking out the final batter to set them down in order and clinch the win.

Game Two: Huskies Quash Quinnipiac, 7-0

With five runs in the first two innings, NIU ran away from Quinnipiac early and coasted to a 7-0 victory.

Kayti Grable (Santee, Calif./Santana) finished the game with four RBIs, as the Huskies piled up 10 hits against the Bobcats. Jessica Sturm gave up just three hits in a complete-game shutout.

"We'll see tomorrow. If we have two games together where they're doing that, then maybe," Sutcliffe said about the offense finding its groove. "We've kind of struggled offensively this week, so we're just trying to score early and score often. I think that was the difference today. We were able to score in that first inning and it took some of the pressure off ourselves."

The Huskies got to QU pitcher Casey Herzog early in the game. Following a Bryanna Phelan walk and a Kali Kossakowski (Elgin, Ill./St. Edward) flyout, Grable singled and Emily Naegele was hit by a pitch to load the bases. NIU then took advantage of Herzog's miscues, as Phelan came home following a wild pitch to get the Huskies on the board. Moments later, the Bobcat hurler again got wild to allow Grable to come home easily for a 2-0 NIU lead after one.

The offense continued to pile it on in the next frame. With Rebecca Rupard (Normal, Ill./Normal West) on first on a fielder's choice, Caitlyn Warren singled to push Rupard to third and chase Herzog from the game. Her replacement, Sydney Robey, fared no better. Phelan's single loaded the bases and, two batters later, Grable blew open the contest with a bases-clearing double into left field to push the NIU advantage to 5-0.

Two innings later, NIU all but sealed the game. With two runners in scoring position and none out, Kossakowski singled up the middle to bring home Warren. Grable then added another RBI to her tally with a sac fly into center field, allowing Phelan to tag up and make it a 7-0 lead for the Huskies.

Defensively, Sturm and the Huskies never gave QU a chance. The Bobcats only mustered six baserunners the entire game, while NIU's defense prevented a QU baserunner from even reaching third base the entire game.

The Huskies end the weekend Sunday with an 8 a.m. CT contest against UMass Lowell.