TOURNAMENT CENTRAL | BRACKET

AKRON, Ohio – The No. 3 Northern Illinois University Softball team rallied from a 2-0 first-inning deficit to defeat No. 6 seeded Miami, 5-4, in its opening game of the 2017 Mid-American Conference Tournament at Firestone Stadium Wednesday.
 
"I told them before the game that as long as there is an out left in the game we were going to fight right til the end no matter how we started," said NIU head coach Christina Sutcliffe. "I think we did that. We stayed patient and we made the defensive plays when it mattered down the stretch."
 
NIU (31-19) used the long ball and received a strong performance from sophomore Alex Frenz (Oakville, Mo./Oakville) to advance in the winner's bracket. Kayti Grable (Santee, Calif./Santana) and Abby Howlett (South Elgin, Ill./St. Charles North) each delivered a pair of two run homers and Frenz allowed four runs, two earned, in five-and-two-thirds innings of work.
 
"Alex pitched really well against them last year and that's why we gave her the ball," Sutcliffe said. "She had a repeat performance today. She did a great job, even in that first inning, neither run probably should've scored, but she hung with it."
 
Trailing, 2-0, in the bottom of the fourth, senior Kali Kossakowski (Elgin, Ill./St. Edward) began the Huskie rally with a lead-off double. She then advanced to third on a groundout. Katie Lamich (Naperville, Ill./Naperville Central) laid down a perfect bunt and Kossakowski scored to put NIU on the board. Howlett then cleared the bases with a blast over the right field fence and gave the Huskies a 3-2 advantage.
 
"Abby's ball is one of the longest I've seen hit here at Firestone," she said. "Kali starting that inning off with a double and being able to get our sac bunt down, something we've struggled with all year, really started that inning for us. It was nice to see us capitalize."
 
NIU added to its lead in the bottom of the fifth with a two-run homer by Grable over the left field fence. That home run would prove crucial as Miami came back in the top of the sixth with a pair of runs to make the score 5-4 NIU with two outs in the inning.
 
However, Tara Thacker (Uniontown, Ohio/North Canton Hoover) came in to pitch in relief of Frenz and recorded the final out of the sixth and retired the RedHawks in order to end the top of the seventh and give the Huskies the win.
 
Grable and Howlett each finished 1-for-3 on the day with two RBIs, while Kossakowski led the Huskies with a 2-for-3 day.
 
NIU returns to action Thursday when the Huskies face No. 2 seed Ohio. First pitch is set for 7:30 p.m. CT. Fans can follow it through live stats all on NIUHuskies.com.
 
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