LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Northern Illinois University softball team continued their spring break road trip falling to No. 22 Kentucky, 8-4, at John Cropp Stadium on Tuesday.
The Wildcats' early offense was too much to overcome as Kentucky scored seven of their eight runs in the first three innings.
"I thought our players battled until the end," said NIU head softball coach
Christina Sutcliffe. A few more defensive plays and we could have won that game."
After Kentucky scored three runs in the bottom of the first, the Huskies (5-16) answered in the second. Junior
Sam Schmidt (Lombard, Ill./Willowbrook) started off the inning with a walk and senior
Alaynie Woollard (New Castle, Ind. /New Castle) singled through the left side. A couple batters later, junior
Abby Howlett (South Elgin, Ill. /St. Charles North) grounded out to second and scored Woollard from third, cutting the Wildcat lead to two.
The Wildcats recorded another three spot in the second and scored one in the third which propelled Kentucky's lead to 7-1.
The Huskies got one back on the top of the fifth when senior
Bekah Harnish (Maple Park, Ill. /Burlington Central) singled to right to lead off the inning and moved up a base on an error by the right fielder to put her at second. A couple batters later, with Harnish at third and junior
Katie Lamich (Naperville, Ill./ Naperville Central) at bat, Harnish scored on a passed ball.
The Wildcats hit a solo home run in the bottom of the sixth to grow their lead to 8-2. In the next half inning, Woollard was hit by the pitch to lead off the inning. The next batter was Harnish and she smacked a two-run homer to dead center field to bring the Huskies within four.
"It was nice to see Harnish break out and have a great game all around," said Sutcliffe.
Sutcliffe was pleased by the performance of junior pitcher
Alex Frenz (Oakville, Mo. /Oakville) in relief. Frenz went five innings and gave up six hits on two runs.
"Alex did a nice job coming into relief and stopping the momentum," said Sutcliffe.
The Huskies continue their spring break road trip with a stop at University of Louisville tomorrow at 2 p.m. Fans can follow the action on ACC Plus.
–NIU–
