Softball | March 8

DEKALB, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University softball team travels to Kentucky for its annual spring break trip where it will it will play seven games in five days beginning with the EKU Invitational hosted by Eastern Kentucky Friday.
 
The Huskies (4-11) will open play at the EKU Invitational against Saint Louis at 9 a.m. before taking on Eastern Kentucky at 2 p.m. on Friday.  NIU will then play two straight contests against Western Carolina on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. and on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. NIU will have a rematch against Eastern Kentucky at 4 p.m. on Sunday to round out the tournament.  All times are Central.  This is the first time in school history the Huskie softball team will play Eastern Kentucky and Western Carolina. 
 
"It will be nice to get some new competition," said NIU head softball coach Christina Sutcliffe.   "EKU is off to a really good start, so that will be a good test for us.  Western Carolina should be a good match up as well.  We are trying to get better every weekend and try to keep the momentum that we have going forward."
 
NIU continues the road trip with a date with No. 23 Kentucky on Tuesday, March 13 at 2 p.m. before wrapping up their trip to Kentucky at Louisville on Wednesday, March 14 at 4 p.m.
 
"Both teams have been traditionally postseason and even world series contenders," said Sutcliffe.  "It will be a good test. Last year, we played Kentucky, 2-0, so hopefully we will do a little bit better this year.  With it being a single game, it could be anyone's game."
 
At the Coach B Classic at SIU last weekend, Tara Thacker (Uniontown, Ohio/North Canton Hoover) posted 2-1 record and a 0.70 ERA in three starts in the circle. The Huskie senior went the distance in all three of those starts, which included a shutout against Murray State.  Thacker hurled seven strikeouts with an opponent batting average of .182. 
 
"She had a phenomenal weekend," said Sutcliffe.  "We needed that in a bad way and hopefully she will continue to step up as well as the rest of the staff."
 
In the batter's box, the Huskies as a team batted .270 in the SIU tournament. Jenny Van Geertry (Mokena, Ill./Lincoln-Way East), Sam Schmidt (Lombard, Ill./Willowbrook), and Dominique Greeno (Lacey, Wash./North Thurston) led the way for NIU last weekend.  The Huskie trio combined to bat .454 with two home runs and seven RBIs.  Greeno hit the two home runs in Saturday's 7-3 win against Murray State.
 
"Jenny has been consistent all year so far for us," said Sutcliffe.  "She is probably one of the few that all three weekends have put up consistent weekends together.  Dom provided a huge spark plug for us in the last two games this past weekend. 
 
"Sam put a great weekend together.  She has been really consistent and kind of coming in and out and working on eliminating some of the bigger swings that we just need her to put the ball in play."   
 
The Huskies played better defensively at the Coach B Classic as well.  Senior Bekah Harnish (Maple Park, Ill./Burlington Central) caught three runners trying to steal second base in last Friday's split. Harnish has thrown out five runners stealing this season. 
 
"I think our defense played really well this past weekend," said Sutcliffe.  "It is definitely the best they played all year.  We just have to continue to get a little bit better on the infield.  Our outfield has been phenomenal all season long and they are keeping us in some of the games.  We just have to continue to keep that infield healthy and keep them working."
 
Live stats will be available for all seven games on the spring break road trip on NIUHuskies.com.  Live streaming will also be accessible when the Huskies take on Eastern Kentucky through Ohio Valley Conference On-Demand.
 
Fans can also see NIU take on No. 23 Kentucky on SEC Plus and live streaming for Louisville will be available on ACC Extra.  Fans can follow the NIU softball team on Twitter @NIUSoftball, Facebook NIU.Softball, and Instagram niu_softball. 
 
–NIU–