DEKALB, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University softball dropped both games of the doubleheader to the Western Michigan Broncos at Mary M. Bell Field on Saturday, falling 5-4 in nine innings in game one and 5-3 in game two. 
 
Western Michigan (25-21, 12-9 MAC) commenced the scoring when Aspen Williams hit a solo home run in the top of the second inning.  The Huskies then came back with a run of their own in the bottom half. With one out, sophomore Kayla Scaperrotta (Coral Springs, Fla. /Coral Springs Charter School) doubled to right center. Sophomore Anne Allen (Frankfort, Ill. /Lincoln-Way Central) followed with a base hit of her own, then stole second to give the Huskies two runners in scoring position. Freshman Kira Mickleson (Wheatland, Wis. /Westosha Central) drove in Scaperrotta with an infield single to tie the game 1-1.
 
NIU (18-28, 9-10 MAC) took the lead to score in the third when senior Bekah Harnish (Maple Park, Ill. /Burlington Central) drove in Dominique Greeno (Lacey, Wash. /North Thurston) on a single to centerfield, making the score 2-1. The Huskies had a chance to extend the lead when a Scaperrotta walk loaded the bases with one out, but Broncos starting pitcher Sydney Stefanick retired both Katie Lamich (Naperville, Ill. /Naperville Central) and Jenny Van Geertry (Mokena, Ill. /Lincoln-Way East) to end the NIU threat. Western Michigan re-gained the lead in the fourth when second baseman Erin Barg hit a two-out, two-run double down the left field line to give the Broncos a 3-2 lead.
 
The Huskies rallied to tie the game in the bottom of the seventh. Sam Schmidt (Lombard, Ill./Willowbrook) led off the inning with a single and got to second base on an Alaynie Woollard (New Castle, Ind. /New Castle) sacrifice bunt. Harnish then reached on a fielder's choice, advancing Schmidt to third. Scaperrotta then drove in Schmidt on a sacrifice fly to left field to tie the game 3-3.  The two sides traded runs in the eighth. Skylar Sobeski led off the Broncos' half of the inning with a home run over the right field fence, while a Greeno sacrifice fly plated Mickelson to force a ninth inning.
 
Western Michigan took a 5-4 lead in the ninth on a two-out single by Williams, with Allen throwing a strike to Harnish at third to put out Sobeski and end the inning. The Huskies had a chance to tie the game with runners at first and second and two outs in the bottom of the ninth, but Stefanick got Mickelson to fly out to end game one.
 
"In the first game, we left too many runners in scoring position," said NIU head softball coach Christina Sutcliffe. "I think that whole entire lineup could have won the game for us but we could not get it done."
 
Scaperrotta was 3-for-3 at the plate in game one with an RBI and a walk. Schmidt also had three hits. In the circle, junior Alex Frenz (Oakville, Mo./Oakville) threw three-and-one-third innings in relief of Alex Frenz, allowing one run on four hits with three strikeouts. Keegan Hayes () took the loss in the opener, allowing the eventual go-ahead run in the ninth as part of her two innings of work. Stefanick earned the win, going the distance allowing four runs on 15 hits with two strikeouts.
 
The Broncos opened game two with a two-run home run by Samantha Coffel in the first inning to take a 2-0 lead. Woollard smacked a solo home run in the bottom of the second, her seventh of the season, to cut the Western Michigan lead in half, 2-1. Coffel struck again in the third inning with an RBI triple that put the Broncos ahead 3-1. In the fourth, Western Michigan tacked on two more runs on a Logan Carter sacrifice fly and a Mackenzie Swinehart RBI single to extend its lead to 5-1.
 
The Huskies cut into the Western Michigan lead in the bottom of the fourth. Harnish laced a two-out RBI single to centerfield, scoring Greeno to make the score 5-2. NIU would only manage one more run in game two. Abby Howlett (South Elgin, Ill. /St. Charles North) hit a solo home run in the bottom of the seventh to make the score 5-3, but that would be as close as NIU would get.
 
"We just did not play good softball," said Sutcliffe. "Defensively, we were not sharp."
 
Hayes got the start in the circle in the nightcap for NIU, allowing all five Broncos runs in three-and-one-thirds innings. Frenz held Western Michigan scoreless in three-and-two-thirds innings, working around six hits allowed. Jordan Kurth earned the win for the Broncos, allowing three runs on five hits with four strikeouts. 
 
NIU travels to Valparaiso on Wednesday, May 2 for a doubleheader against the Crusaders starting at 2 p.m. 
 
–NIU–