DEKALB, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University softball team travels to Ypsilanti, Mich. for a weekend series against the Eastern Michigan Eagles at Varsity Field on April 20-21. 
 
The Huskies (14-26 5-8) play the Eagles (9-29 5-9) at 2 p.m. on Friday and 12 p.m. and 2 p.m. on Saturday.  All times are Central.
 
The Huskies are 41-25 all-time against the Eagles.  NIU has won nine of the last 10 matchups dating back to 2014.  The Eagles enter Friday's game winners of three out of their last five games.   
 
"They are kind of putting it all on the line now and they have got nothing to lose," said NIU head softball coach Christina Sutcliffe.  "They are playing for pride and that goes a long way on the field. They are hot and we have to figure out how to be patient and not to do too much."
 
Junior Katie Lamich (Naperville, Ill. /Naperville Central) comes into series swinging a hot bat.  The Huskie leftfielder registered four hits in eight at-bats in last week's Ball State and Toledo series.  Junior Jenny Van Geertry (Mokena, Ill. /Lincoln-Way East) continues to lead the NIU and is third in the Mid-American Conference in batting average, hitting .419 with four home runs and 22 driven in.
 
"Every weekend, we are trying to put the best nine on the field between what they have done and what they have done in weekends prior," said Sutcliffe. "We are just trying to get our offense going. Lamy [Katie Lamich] has done a very nice job in that nine spot just to turn that lineup over and we love her down there because she does a good job to get on for Jenny.  It has been a really nice use for us."
 
Senior Alaynie Woollard (New Castle, Ind. /New Castle) is tied for third in the nation with seven triples this season. As a team, NIU is fourth in the nation averaging .43 triples per game. The Huskie utility infielder is batting .324 with five home runs and 31 RBIs this season. 
 
"Woo [Alaynie Woollard] is doing a great job with what she gets pitched and she is dialed in with that," said Sutcliffe.  "Overall, we try to be as aggressive as possible on the bases."
 
Junior Alex Frenz (Oakville, Mo. /Oakville) appeared in all four games this past week recording an ERA of 0.70 in 10 innings of work.  In addition, Frenz gave up nine hits while striking out four batters.  This season, Frenz owns a 3.12 ERA in 29 appearances. During MAC play, the Huskies lead the MAC posting a 2.67 ERA.  NIU also leads the MAC by only allowing 43 runs. 
 
"We have kind of rotated our pitchers through," said Sutcliffe.  "We have talked about giving up multiple walks in one inning.  I think we are going to be working on that and I think if we eliminate that, we will do a lot better."
 
Live stats and live audio will be available through emueagles.com.  Fans can follow the historic 60^th year of NIU Huskies softball on Twitter @NIUSoftball, Facebook @NIU.Softball, and Instagram @niu_softball. 
 
–NIU–