Final Stats

CLEARWATER, Fla. - The Northern Illinois University softball team ended its Florida trip Sunday with a convincing 8-1 victory over UMass Lowell.

Eight different Huskies (12-12) posted at least one hit against the Riverhawks (9-11), while Kayti Grable (Santee, Calif./Santana) and Jessica Sturm (Wichita, Kan./Goddard) both hit home runs in NIU's big third inning.

"I think relief is the right word," said NIU Head Coach Christina Sutcliffe on the offense's recent surge. "They were struggling a little bit and starting to get a little mental, but today even our outs were pretty hard outs. That's good to see and leads me to believe that we're starting to roll there."

While the day ultimately belonged to the Huskies, it was the Riverhawks who drew first blood in the top of the first. Ally Greene opened the game with a single and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt to quickly get into scoring position. Two batters later, Emilia Davies reached on an error that allowed Greene to get home and put UML up, 1-0.

NIU, though, quickly turned the tables in the bottom half of the opening stanza. Grable sparked the Huskies with a two-out single, then Emily Naegele (Oak Forest, Ill./Oak Forest) clocked a ball into the right power alley for a triple that scored Grable. Bekah Harnish (Maple Park, Ill./Burlington Central) followed that up with a sharp single that plated Naegele and pushed NIU ahead, 2-1.

The middle of the Huskies' lineup pounded the Riverhawks again in the third. Kali Kossakowski (Elgin, Ill./St. Edward) started things with a lead-off double into left field. Moments later, Grable again victimized UML pitcher Marielle Handley by blasting a home run over the left-center field fence to push the Huskie lead to 4-1. Three batters later, Sturm got into the long ball spirit with a solo shot to give NIU a comfortable 5-1 advantage through three.

The hit parade carried over into the fourth. After Caitlyn Warren (Naperville, Ill./Naperville North) and Bryanna Phelan (Coal City, Ill./Coal City) both got on base with singles, Kossakowski lofted a fly ball into center field to allow Warren to tag up and get NIU its sixth run of the day. Much like she did in her first two at-bats, Grable again came up with a hit, this time singling up the middle to bring in Phelan to make it 7-1 Huskies.

"Kayti's obviously having a phenomenal season so far," Sutcliffe said. "I think she has seven RBIs in the last two games. She's just in the right position for it and it's nice to see the kids around her step up and put not so much pressure on her."

The Huskies tallied one more insurance run in the fifth to effectively seal the win. Following Harnish's lead-off double, Alaynie Woollard (New Castle, Ind./New Castle) singled to plate the fellow freshman.

In the circle, Keegan Hayes (Naperville, Ill./Naperville Central) and Sturm didn't give UML a chance. After allowing the lone run in the first, Hayes went the remaining four innings by only giving up one hit and one walk before being lifted for Sturm in the sixth. Over the 12 games in the Sunshine State, NIU pitchers posted a 1.64 ERA and allowed two runs or fewer in eight games.

"Our staff this week did a great job and they're a big reason why we went 8-4 over the week," Sutcliffe said."

NIU gets back on the diamond Thursday when they host North Dakota State at 1:30 p.m.