DEKALB, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University Softball team split its first two games of a three-game series at Western Michigan at Fran Ebert Field Friday.
 
The Huskies (20-16, 8-6) posted a 6-5 lead in the series opener before falling to Western Michigan, 7-2, in the night cap.
 
NIU jumped on top of Western Michigan (16-22, 4-10) early in game one, putting up a four spot in the top of the first. Alaynie Woollard (New Castle, Ind./New Castle) began the rally when she coaxed a bases loaded walk. An RBI single to left by Jessica Rio (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield East) scored Bekah Harnish (Maple Park, Ill./Burlington Central) to make it 2-0 Huskies.
 
Katie Lamich (Naperville, Ill./Naperville Central) delivered the big blow in the inning singling up the middle to drive in Kayti Grable (Santana, Calif./Santee) and Woollard to give NIU a 4-0 lead.
 
"We jumped on them early, which was nice," said NIU head coach Christina Sutcliffe. "Anytime you can get a big lead early and just play some defense, that's a good deal. Our outfield is playing lights out phenomenal right now. They're saving us left and right."
 
Lamich and Woollard led the way for the Huskie offense from the middle of the order. Woollard was 3-for-3 with a walk and two RBIs and two runs scored, while Lamich was 2-for-3 with a walk and three RBIs.
 
"Katie Lamich has played pretty solid, both offensively and defensively, the last three weeks," Sutcliffe said. "It's weird, some games we are winning with the top of our order, and some days we're winning with the bottom of the order. Today it was the middle of the order."
 
The Broncos rallied with a run in the first and two more in the second to pull within a run. Keegan Hayes (Naperville, Ill./Naperville) then came in to pitch in relief for starter Alex Frenz (Oakville, Mo./Oakville) and proceeded to shut the Broncos down for the next three innings.
 
"Keegan is coming off a bit of an injury, so that was really nice to see out of her," she said. "She pitched really well at Ball State and now she threw really well here so she's definitely making a statement."
 
The Huskie offense helped give Hayes some room to work. In the top of the third, Lamich drove in her third run of the game and gave the Huskies a two-run cushion when she grounded out to second to score Woollard. Woollard then drove in an insurance run when she doubled to center field, driving in Grable, in the top of the fourth.
 
That insurance run would prove huge as the Broncos cut NIU's 6-3 lead to one with a two-run homer by Abby Stoner off of Hayes in the top of the sixth. Tara Thacker (Uniontown, Ohio/North Hoover Canton) came in to pitch in relief for Hayes. Thacker retired the next five batters to secure the win and record the save.
 
Game two was all Western Michigan. The Broncos scored their runs in bunches, tallying two runs in the third, two in the fifth and three in the sixth. NIU scored their two runs on solo home runs by Grable and Jenny Van Geertry (Mokena, Ill./Lincoln-Way East) in the fourth and seventh, respectively.
 
NIU concludes its series with the Broncos Saturday. First pitch is scheduled for 12 p.m. CT and live stats will be available on NIUHuskies.com.
 
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