DEKALB, Ill. –The Northern Illinois University softball team opens a weekend series against the Western Michigan Broncos at Mary M. Bell Field on Friday.  
 
The Huskies (17-26, 8-8) and Broncos will suit up for a single game on Friday at 3 p.m. and two games starting at 1 p.m. on Saturday.  Western Michigan leads the all-time series between the two schools, 42-31, dating back to 1979.  The Huskies won two of three last season in Kalamazoo, Mich.
 
"I think we are going to have to keep their hitters off balance," said NIU head softball coach Christina Sutcliffe.  "Traditionally, their hitters have hit us extremely well.  They have four to five kids that could do some damage and we need to figure out how to throw to them." 
 
The Huskies are led at the plate by reigning Mid-American Conference West Division Player of the Week Sam Schmidt (Lombard, Ill. /Willowbrook).  The Huskie junior batted .556 with two home runs and seven RBIs in last weekend's sweep of Eastern Michigan.  Schmidt is second on the team in hitting, batting .392 overall. 
 
"She is having an amazing year for us and she is doing a nice job," said Sutcliffe.  "She has been consistent from the first weekend on and that has been good to see out of her.  She had a really good weekend and put that first game out of reach for us by opening up the scoring."  
 
Junior Jenny Van Geertry (Mokena, Ill. /Lincoln-Way East) continues to lead the Huskie offense, batting .419, which ranks third in the MAC, with four home runs and 22 RBIs. Senior Alaynie Woollard (New Castle, Ind. /New Castle) is one triple away from tying the record for the most triples in a single season for the Huskies.  She is currently fourth in the nation with seven triples.
 
In last weekend's sweep of Eastern Michigan, NIU's pitching staff only allowed four runs, but none of which were earned.  Junior Alex Frenz (Oakville, Mo. /Oakville) led the charge starting two of the three games working nine innings and walking only one batter.  Frenz leads the staff in wins with seven and with a 2.79 ERA. The Huskies lead the conference with a 2.05 ERA in MAC play.  
 
"What is different about our pitchers from most other schools in the MAC is that we have three or four pitchers doing it," said Sutcliffe.  "We did a nice job of lowering our walks, as a pitching staff and that is been something we have been focusing on."
 
This weekend, NIU softball is celebrating 60 years of softball on campus and the 30th anniversary of its 1988 Women's College World Series team. Hall of Fame outfielder Jill (Justin) Coffel will be in attendance. (Justin) Coffel's daughter, Samantha, is a freshman at Western Michigan.  Coach Sutcliffe thinks this is special for (Justin) Coffel and her daughter.
 
"I think going into the weekend it is going to be fun for Jill [(Justin) Coffel] just to get her due diligence and recognition in what she has done for that program and having her daughter to be apart of it," said Sutcliffe. "I think will be an extra special time for them. 
 
"I am hoping that the energy that our alumni being to the weekend carries onto the field and gives our players that extra 10th women energy. It is going to be a fantastic weekend and we have 12 of the 1988 team coming back and upwards of 50 alumni coming back on Saturday."
 
Live streaming and stats will be available on niuhuskies.com.  Fans can follow the NIU Huskies Gameday account @NIUscoresfor inning-by-inning updates. Fans can follow the historic 60^thyear of NIU Huskies softball on Twitter @NIUSoftball, Facebook @NIU.Softball, and Instagram @niu_softball.  
 
–NIU–