YPSILANTI, Mich. – The Northern Illinois University softball team earned their fourth shutout of the season defeating the Eastern Michigan Eagles, 7-0, at Varsity Field on Friday.
NIU (15-26 6-8) junior
Alex Frenz (Oakville, Mo. /Oakville) led the charge in the circle for the Huskies, pitching six innings of shutout ball surrendering five hits. The Huskie right hander earned her seventh win of the season in her 30
thgame of the season, which is tied for the most appearances in the Mid-American Conference this season.
"Alex [Frenz] threw a great game and did a nice job keeping the hitters off balance for the most part all game," said NIU head softball coach
Christina Sutcliffe.
The Huskies opened the scoring on the day with two-runs in the top of the second. With one out, senior
Bekah Harnish (Maple Park, Ill. /Burlington Central) reached on an error and sophomore
Kayla Scaperrotta (Coral Springs, Fla. /Coral Springs Charter School) walked. After a wild pitch that put Harnish and Scaperrotta on second and third, freshman
Katie Wingerter (Prospect Heights, Ill. /Hersey) singled to left field driving in both runners and giving the Huskies an early 2-0 lead.
NIU continued to cash in opportunities crossing two more runs across the plate in the third. Junior
Dominique Greeno (Lacey, Wash. /North Thurston), with one out, singled and later stole second. A couple batters later, senior
Alaynie Woollard (New Castle, Ind. /New Castle) smashed her sixth home run of the season to extend the Huskie lead to 4-0.
"It was nice to see the consistency of our offense," Sutcliffe said. "Woo [
Alaynie Woollard] and [Katie] Wingerter did a great job getting us the lead and then we continued to put pressure on throughout the game."
In the top of the fifth, NIU added on to their lead when junior
Sam Schmidt (Lombard, Ill. /Willowbrook) singled home junior
Jenny Van Geertry (Mokena, Ill. /Lincoln-Way East) from second. Schmidt finished the game going 2-for-4.
In the sixth, the Huskie offensive attack continues as Scaperrotta singled and advanced Harnish to third, but subsequently scored on an error by the left fielder. Later in the inning, freshman
Kira Mickelson (Wheatland, Wis. /Westosha Central) singled home sophomore pinch-runner
Kalalaelisa Toomalatai (Imperial Beach, Calif. /Otay Ranch) extending the Huskie lead to 7-0.
"It was nice to see us score in multiple innings," said Sutcliffe.
The Huskies and Eagles conclude their weekend series with a doubleheader starting at 12 p.m. on Saturday.
–NIU–
