DEKALB, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University softball team claimed the Mid-American Conference West Division crown with an 8-3 victory over Central Michigan on Friday evening in the second game of a doubleheader at Mary M. Bell Field. The Huskies came back to get a split with the Chippewas after falling in the first game, 5-4.

NIU improved to 33-17 overall, 13-9 in league play, and earned its first MAC West Division title since 2000. The 33 wins is also the most for the Huskies since the 2000 season when NIU finished with a 33-22 record.

“We needed to win a game badly,” said NIU head coach Christina Sutcliffe. “We had lost four one-run games in a row so we needed to figure out how to bounce-back. We played some good defense, that had been our nemesis the last four games, we couldn’t put a clean game together and we did a really nice job.”

NIU jumped on Central Michigan (23-25-1, 10-11-1 MAC) early in the second game as junior Kayti Grable (Santee, Calif./Santana) hit a solo home run to centerfield in the bottom of the first inning to give the Huskies an early lead.

Two more runs came across the plate in the bottom of the second as the Huskies pushed their lead to 3-0. Freshman Mykaela Arellanes (Foristell, Mo./Holt) reached on an error with two outs and the miscue would prove costly for the Chippewas. After junior Rebecca Rupard (Normal, Ill./Normal West) singled to left-centerfield, junior Kali Kossakowski (Elgin, Ill./St. Edward) hit a two RBI triple to right center to give the Huskies a three-run lead.

The score remained 3-0 until the top of the fifth when Central Michigan evened the score. A RBI single to right by Maison Kalina and a two RBI double by Katelyn Rentschler made it a 3-3 game heading to the bottom of the frame.

It didn’t take the Huskies long to retake the lead however. Grable walked to open the frame and senior Emily Naegele (Oak Forest, Ill./Radford) crushed her 18th home run of the season to left center as the Huskies immediately answered with three runs of their own to retake the three-run lead, 6-3.

“That was the game,” Sutcliffe said of the bottom of the fifth. “(Central Michigan) grabbed the momentum but we were able to put three back up on the board and I think that was the deal-breaker. Caitlyn Warren drove the final two in (in the sixth) and that gave us a cushion in the seventh that made it more comfortable.”

Freshman Alex Frenz (Oakville, Mo./Oakville) came on in relief of sophomore Tara Thacker (Uniontown, Ohio/North Canton Hoover), who improved to 10-7 on the season in the circle, in the top of the sixth and retired the Chippewas in order.

NIU then added two more runs in the bottom of the sixth. Walks to Grable and Naegele with two outs set the table for senior Caitlyn Warren (Naperville, Ill./Wisconsin), who double to right-centerfield to drive in a pair of runs and extend the NIU lead to 8-3.

After a leadoff walk in the top of the seventh, Frenz retired the next three batters to give the Huskies the doubleheader split and the MAC West crown.

Naegele went 3-for-3 at the plate in the second half of the doubleheader while Warren and Kossakowski each went 2-for-3.

In the first game of the twinbill, Central Michigan took a 3-0 lead in the third inning courtesy of a three-run home run by Kalina.

Freshman Dominique Greeno (Lacey, Wash./North Thurston) got NIU in the board with a solo shot down the left field line in the bottom of the fourth, but a leadoff home run by Lacy Tolfree for the Chippewas in the top of the fifth quickly restored the three-run lead for Central Michigan.

Greeno drove in another run for the Huskies with a sacrifice bunt in the bottom of the sixth that scored Warren. Central Michigan answered right back in the top of the seventh however as three-straight two-out singles led to a Chippewa run that make it a 5-2 game.

NIU rallied in the bottom of the seventh, beginning with a leadoff walk to Kossakowski. Freshman Jessica Rio (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield East) then triple to center, driving in Kossakowski to cut the Central Michigan lead to 5-3. Grable singled up the middle, plating Kossakowski as the Huskies pulled within a run with no outs, but a strikeout sandwiched around a pair of fly outs ended Huskie rally and gave the opening game of the day to Central Michigan.

Grable went 3-for-4 from the plate in the opener while Rio went 2-for-4; Rentschler had three hits in the game for Central Michigan.

The Huskies and the Chippewas will meet in the regular season finale on Saturday, May 7, at Mary M. Bell Field, game time is scheduled for 2 p.m. Prior to the game, NIU will honor its 2016 seniors who will be playing their final home game in Cardinal and Black.