DEKALB, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University Softball team opens up a six-game road trip when NIU travels to Kalamazoo, Mich. to face Western Michigan in doubleheader action Friday afternoon.
 
The Huskies (19-15, 7-5) enter Friday's (12 & 2 p.m. CT) contests with Western Michigan (15-21, 3-9) winners of three of their last four games. NIU took its series with Kent State last weekend and posted a 6-3 win over Ball State Tuesday.
 
"Western, traditionally, has always given us a hard time, especially at their place" said NIU head coach Christina Sutcliffe. "We've just got to figure out there big time hitters and get off the field when we can."
 
Following Friday's games, NIU and the Broncos are scheduled to play a single game Saturday with first pitch for game one scheduled for 12 p.m. CT. Live stats for all three games will be available at NIUHuskies.com.
 
NIU is batting .313 and outscoring its opponents by two runs during its modest three-game winning streak. Kayti Grable (Santana, Calif./Santee) leads the way hitting .700 with seven RBI, while Bekah Harnish (Maple Park, Ill./Burlington Central) is right behind her batting .455 since NIU's 7-6 win at Kent State Saturday.
 
While the offensive numbers are impressive, what's probably more important is the defense the Huskies played the last three games. NIU has committed only one error during this three-game stretch.
 
NIU will have to keep it going during this upcoming road trip as it looks to qualify for the Mid-American Conference Tournament.
 
"We just have to keep focusing on winning the weekend," Sutcliffe said. "If we can get two out of three, we should be in a good spot going into the conference tournament. If you have the mindset of always trying to win the weekend, you can always see if you're jockeying for position to win the division towards the end."
 
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