DEKALB, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University Softball team continues its five-game road trip when the Huskies travel to Kent, Ohio to face Mid-American Conference East foe Kent State for a weekend set Saturday.
 
The Huskies (16-14, 4-4) will face Kent State (14-19, 4-4) in a doubleheader Saturday (12 & 2 p.m. CT) and will wrap up the series with a single game on Sunday. First pitch for Sunday's contest is set for 12 p.m. CT. Live stats will be available for all three games at NIUHuskies.com.
 
NIU enters Saturday's doubleheader with the Golden Flashes looking to bounce back from a disappointing doubleheader loss to Ball State on Tuesday. 
 
"Coming back home and having a good day of practice [after the Ball State games] refocused us a little bit," said NIU head coach Christina Sutcliffe. "Kent traditionally has a very good team. They put together a really tough schedule this year, so I don't think their record shows the ability they have."
 
Bekah Harnish (Maple Park, Ill./Burlington Central) provided the big highlight for NIU on the day. The Huskie junior blasted a grand slam in game two, accounting for all the NIU runs in the game.
 
"What I love about Bekah is despite hitting well, she came back to practice Tuesday and was continuing to tweak little things in her swing," she said. "That's the great thing about her. She's always working at it and always trying and get better. It was nice to see all that hard work pay off for her."
 
Harnish is batting .256 on the season and is second on the team in RBIs with 17 and is fourth in runs scored with 14. She is batting .500 in league play with nine RBIs and six runs scored. Harnish and the Huskies will have to be on their game against Kent State's pitching staff.
 
"We have to figure their pitcher out," Sutcliffe said of Kent State pitcher Ronnie Ladines. "She does a really nice job. She traditionally always has done a nice job against us. I think that's going to be the first key, figuring out how to make adjustments against her early on."
 
Ladines leads the Golden Flashes with a 1.96 earned run average in 23 appearances on the season. Kent State's Janel Hayes boasts a team-leading 7-5 record with a 3.60 ERA.
 
-NIU-