TOURNAMENT CENTRAL

DEKALB, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University Softball team will look to build on the lessons learned in last weekend's games when the Huskies travel to Beaumont, Texas for the Cardinal Classic Friday afternoon.
 
The Huskies (2-2) will open the tournament with Alabama A&M at 12:15 p.m. and Kansas at 7 p.m. Friday. NIU will face South Dakota State and Tulsa Saturday at 12:15 and 2:30 p.m., respectively, before closing out the Cardinal Classic against the host Lamar University Sunday at 10:15 p.m. All times listed are Central. Live scoring will be available for every game of the tournament.
 
NIU split its four-game weekend in Athens, Ohio, taking two from Rutgers, while dropping a pair to the host Bobcats. It was definitely a tale of two opponents for the Huskies in those four games. NIU and Rutgers combined to score 34 runs in two games, including a 17-9 Huskie victory. Conversely, Ohio and NIU played a pair of one-run games both won by the Bobcats.
 
"We feel like we let two games get away from us, but in the same sense, we're two games closer to Ohio than we were at the end of last year," said NIU head coach Christina Sutcliffe. "We handed them two games defensively. We just have to be better there.
 
"I think we did, at times, get exposed in a couple areas defensively, so we tried to work on that this week and sharpen some of those things up."
 
NIU's offense posted a team batting average of .301 and tallied 14 extra base hits, including six home runs. Kayti Grable (Santee, Calif./Santana) and Abby Howlett (South Elgin, Ill./St. Charles North) each hit a pair of home runs on the week. Grable's second home run of the weekend was the 33rd of her career and gives her the career home run record at NIU.
 
"Offensively, we showed we can come from behind no matter what the score is," she said. "That was really fun to see. I think we won two games in the sixth and seventh innings and we lost two games in the sixth and seventh innings."
 
Keegan Hayes (Naperville, Ill./Naperville Central) was strong in the pitcher's circle in relief for the Huskies. She posted a 1.91 earned run average in 11 innings pitched, allowing three runs on five hits while scattering 11 walks. Look for Hayes to get even more playing time this weekend.
 
"Keegan had an awesome weekend," Sutcliffe said. "She's definitely going to be stepping into a more dominant role pitching this weekend."
 
-NIU-
DEKALB, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University Softball team will look to build on the lessons learned in last weekend's games when the Huskies travel to Beaumont, Texas for the Cardinal Classic Friday afternoon.
 
The Huskies (2-2) will open the tournament with Alabama A&M at 12:15 p.m. and Kansas at 7 p.m. Friday. NIU will face South Dakota State and Tulsa Saturday at 12:15 and 2:30 p.m., respectively, before closing out the Cardinal Classic against the host Lamar University Sunday at 10:15 p.m. All times listed are Central. Live scoring will be available for every game of the tournament.
 
NIU split its four-game weekend in Athens, Ohio, taking two from Rutgers, while dropping a pair to the host Bobcats. It was definitely a tale of two opponents for the Huskies in those four games. NIU and Rutgers combined to score 34 runs in two games, including a 17-9 Huskie victory. Conversely, Ohio and NIU played a pair of one-run games both won by the Bobcats.
 
"We feel like we let two games get away from us, but in the same sense, we're two games closer to Ohio than we were at the end of last year," said NIU head coach Christina Sutcliffe. "We handed them two games defensively. We just have to be better there.
 
"I think we did, at times, get exposed in a couple areas defensively, so we tried to work on that this week and sharpen some of those things up."
 
NIU's offense posted a team batting average of .301 and tallied 14 extra base hits, including six home runs. Kayti Grable (Santee, Calif./Santana) and Abby Howlett (South Elgin, Ill./St. Charles North) each hit a pair of home runs on the week. Grable's second home run of the weekend was the 33rd of her career and gives her the career home run record at NIU.
 
"Offensively, we showed we can come from behind no matter what the score is," she said. "That was really fun to see. I think we won two games in the sixth and seventh innings and we lost two games in the sixth and seventh innings."
 
Keegan Hayes (Naperville, Ill./Naperville Central) was strong in the pitcher's circle in relief for the Huskies. She posted a 1.91 earned run average in 11 innings pitched, allowing three runs on five hits while scattering 11 walks. Look for Hayes to get even more playing time this weekend.
 
"Keegan had an awesome weekend," Sutcliffe said. "She's definitely going to be stepping into a more dominant role pitching this weekend."
 
-NIU-