DEKALB, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University softball team opens its 2018 season in the Florida Atlantic University "First-Pitch" Classic in Boca Raton, Fla. on Friday.
 
NIU will open against Ohio State at 8 a.m. before facing Boston University at 10:15 a.m., on Friday.  On Saturday, NIU will face two Big Ten schools back-to-back when the Huskies take on Michigan State at 2:45 p.m. and Ohio State at 7:15 p.m.  NIU wraps up the tournament Sunday when the Huskies face Bethune Cookman at 12:30 p.m. All times listed are Central.
 
"It will be nice to get outside and see what kind of consistency we can put up on dirt," said NIU head softball coach Christina Sutcliffe. "It will be nice to go compete against someone else other than ourselves and it will be a nice gage to see we are at considering the competition that is down there."
 
The Florida Atlantic University "First-Pitch" Classic marks the return of head coach Christina Sutcliffe back to her Alma Mater where Sutcliffe was a four-year letter winner from 1997-2001.  She complied a 67-23 record with 25 shutouts and two no-hitters. 
 
"Going home is always fun to me," said Sutcliffe.  "Being able to see coach [Joyce], which was a true mentor and a true role model for me, and being able to see her will be great.  Just being able to play coach Kovach of Ohio State, which I was under for six years, will be nice to play them on my Alma Mater's field; it will be surreal."
 
The Huskies capped off its second straight 30-win season posting a record of 33-21 in 2017.  NIU has not recorded three straight 30-win seasons since 1998-2000. Last season, the Huskies posted a 15-9 record in the Mid-American Conference en route to a second-place finish in the MAC West.  With sluggers Kayti Grable and Kali Kossakowski graduated, the Huskies are going to need to find a new source of leadership throughout this season. 
 
"I think we are spreading the leadership all around," said Sutcliffe.  "We are very junior and senior heavy. Obviously, we have a lot of experience under them. Keegan, Tara, and Bekah have been voted on as captain leadership. Do not underestimate our seniors and what they can do and our junior class, for the last two years, been substantial for our production."
 
NIU returns a bulk of its starting lineup from a season ago.  The Huskies return the core of their infield, outfield, and pitching staff for the 2018 campaign. Alaynie Woollard (New Castle Ind./ New Castle) and Bekah Harnish (Maple Park, Ill. /Burlington Central) are two key returning components in the infield.  The two seniors combined to start 106 games, hit six homers, and drive-in 52 runners.  The tandem also combined for only 14 errors and 314 putouts. 
 
Outfielders Jessica Rio (Plainfield, Ill./ Plainfield East) and Jenny Van Geertry (Mokena, Ill. / Lincoln-Way East) return as important contributors, both defensively and offensively.  The pair of juniors were stalwarts in the outfield starting a combined 107 games.  This duo also combined to record 96 hits and 17 doubles. 
 
The Huskies also return two of their top pitchers from last season.  Junior Alex Frenz (Oakville, Mo./ Oakville) and senior Tara Thacker (Uniontown, Ohio. / North Canton Hoover) combined to go 24-18 last season, with 157 strikeouts. Tara Thacker led the team with a 2.36 ERA and Frenz led the team with 14 wins in 2017. 
 
Coach Sutcliffe will look for those six players to led the team this year, but reveals an under the radar player that will give a spark for the Huskies throughout this season. 
 
"We do not have that true standout player," said Sutcliffe.  "Bekah Harnish has done some great things for us, and our staff on the mound has a lot of experience.  Tara and Alex will duke it out for number one.  My true under the radar player would be Katie Wingerter, our freshman.  She is not quite there yet, but I definitely see by the end of the year, her making a pretty big impact for us."
 
The Huskies have been preparing for this season since suffering a 9-3 setback to No. 4 Kent State on championship Saturday in the 2017 MAC Tournament. 
 
"Part of [what we have been working on] is the leadership piece of who is going to step up," said Sutcliffe. "[We need to work on] communication in the field with Koss and Grable leaving, I think those are two huge communicators and leaders defensively. We are working hard on the offense and just trying to figure that out and being more consistent there."
 
Live streaming will be available through fausports.tv, which is a paid service.  Live stats will be available through the FAU Tournament Central for all the games throughout the tournament.  Fans can also follow the NIU softball team through Twitter @NIUSoftball, Instagram @niu_softball, and Facebook NIU Softball for the FAU "First-Pitch" Classic and throughout the entire season. 
 
–NIU–