TOURNAMENT CENTRAL

DEKALB, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University softball team opens its annual spring break trip when the Huskies travel to Murray, Ky. to compete in the 2017 Racer Classic Friday.
 
The Huskies (8-6) will open with Austin Peay State at 10 a.m. before facing host Murray State at 3 p.m. NIU will play Saint Louis and Austin Peay Saturday at 12:30 p.m. and 3 p.m., respectively, before wrapping up play Sunday against the Racers. First pitch it scheduled for 1:30 p.m. There will be live scoring available for all five games.
 
Following the tournament in Kentucky, NIU will make its way back home by travelling to Evansville on Mar. 14 for a doubleheader with the Purple Aces starting at 3 p.m. The Huskies return to the Land of Lincoln Mar. 15 when they face Big Ten foe Illinois in Champaign. The doubleheader with the Illini begins at 3 p.m.
 
NIU's weeklong road trip wraps up in Iowa City where the Huskies will face South Dakota and South Dakota State in a doubleheader Mar. 17 at the Hawkeye Invitational. NIU will face South Dakota at 12 p.m. and South Dakota State at 3:30 p.m. All times listed are Central.
 
While many teams, like the Huskies have done in the past, head for warmer locales, NIU head coach Christina Sutcliffe wanted to prepare her team for conditions they would most likely see in conference play.
 
"It's long, it's going to be really cold. Those are probably going to be the two toughest challenges," said NIU head coach Christina Sutcliffe. "I purposely scheduled our spring break trip this way to see if it will prepare us for our MAC season. We have to figure out how to play in these elements. We have the pitching staff for it, so that helps."
 
The Huskie pitching staff has been solid through the first 14 games of the season this year. Alex Frenz (Oakville, Mo./Oakville) leads the way for NIU with a 5-1 mark in nine appearances. Tara Thacker (Uniontown, Ohio/North Hoover Canton) earned MAC West Pitcher of the Week honors following NIU's performance in the Cardinal Classic two weeks ago.
 
Keegan Hayes (Naperville, Ill./Naperville Central) and Emma Ray (Verona, Wis./Verona Area) have also performed well in the circle. Hayes has a 2-1 record in five appearances, while Ray leads the Huskie staff in earned run average with a 1.24 ERA.
 
"Anytime you have four pitchers that can get it done, you don't have the wear and tear on the pitcher's arm," Sutcliffe said. "That helps us keep fresh."
 
NIU returns to the road looking to rebound from a 2-3 showing at the Coach B Classic. NIU defeated in-state foes UIC and Southern Illinois in Carbondale. The bats came alive in the tournament finale against the Salukis as the Huskies scored nine runs in the win. Sutcliffe is hoping this road trip will help NIU break out of its funk.
 
"We're in a bit of a lull right now," she said. "We have to get out of that. We've lost a little bit of focus and we just have to get back to the basics of the game.
 
"It's always a great time to bond and that's always key for a team. We just have to get back to the basics of hitting. Hopefully we can build off what we did against Southern Illinois."
 
- NIU -