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Tara Thacker
Greg Burke
10
Winner Illinois ILL 4-6
2
NIU NIU 2-9
Winner
Illinois ILL
4-6
10
Final
2
NIU NIU
2-9
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Illinois ILL 1 0 6 2 0 0 1 10 11 1
NIU NIU 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 2 4 1

W: D Brochu (1-0) L: Frenz, Alex (1-2)

3
Winner NIU NIU 3-9
0
Murray State MUR 5-9
Winner
NIU NIU
3-9
3
Final
0
Murray State MUR
5-9
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
NIU NIU 0 0 0 0 2 0 1 3 7 0
Murray State MUR 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 1

W: Thacker, Tara (2-4) L: SUSKI (1-5)

Game Recap: Softball |

Huskie Softball Breaks Even After Day One of the Coach B Classic

Tara Thacker goes the distance for the Huskies

CARBONDALE, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University softball team opened the Coach B Classic on Friday.  The Huskies (3-9) went 1-1 defeating Murray State while falling to Illinois. 
 
Tara Thacker (Uniontown, Ohio / North Canton Hoover) threw a four-hit shutout as the Huskies defeated Murray State, 3-0.  The Huskie senior earned her second complete game of the season and her second win of the season. 
 
The score was tied at 0-0 going into the top of the fifth when junior Abby Howlett (South Elgin, Ill. / St. Charles North) gave NIU a 1-0 lead with a hit a pinch-hit single which scored freshman Katie Wingerter (Prospect Heights, Ill./ Hersey). Later in the inning, Howlett scored from third when junior Katie Lamich (Naperville, Ill./ Naperville Central) attempted to take second to grow the Huskie lead to 2-0. 
 
In the top of the seventh, the Huskies added an insurance run on a single by junior Sam Schmidt (Lombard, Ill. / Willowbrook) which scored junior Jenny Van Geertry (Mokena, Ill. / Lincoln- Way East).  The Huskies pushed the lead to 3-0, going into the bottom of the seventh.  The Racers were threatening in the bottom of the seventh with runners on first and second, but Thacker got out of the jam to seal the victory for the Huskies. 
 
The Huskies fell to Big Ten foe, Illinois, 10-2, in the opening game of tournament. The scoring was all Illinois, early.  The Fighting Illini struck first with a run in the first inning. In the third, the Illini had a six-run outburst in to extend the lead to,7-0. UI then added two in the fourth which grew the lead to 9-0.     
 
The Huskies got on the board, in the bottom of the fifth, when senior Bekah Harnish (Maple Park, Ill. / Burlington Central) smacked a two-run double.  Harnish's double scored junior Jessica Rio (Plainfield, Ill. / Plainfield East) and junior Abby Howlett. The Illini led 9-2, after five and added one more in the seventh to finish off the scoring.
 
Harnish was a stalwart behind the plate and caught three runners stealing in the first two games.  Defensively, the Huskies only committed one error after committing 14 errors their first 10 games.
 
NIU returns to the diamond tomorrow against tournament host Southern Illinois at 12 p.m. and a team to be determined at either 2 p.m. or 4 p.m.

–NIU–
 
 
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