DEKALB, Ill. – Due to unusually cold temperatures in the DeKalb area, the Northern Illinois University softball team's weekend series with Ohio has been adjusted.
 
Friday's game with the Bobcats (18-12, 6-0) has been postponed. NIU (13-20, 4-2) and Ohio are going to play a doubleheader on Saturday starting with the first game at 1 p.m. and the second one starting at 3 p.m.  Sunday's game will start at 11 a.m.  Please stay tuned to niuhuskies.com for any other changes this weekend.  
 
Ohio owns an 18-16 record over NIU dating back to 1985.  The Huskies have not beaten the Bobcats since 2014.   
 
"They have a nice balance between power and speed and that is something a little different that we have seen in any of our previous MAC opponents," said NIU head softball coach Christina Sutcliffe. "Their pitching is obviously good even with [Savannah Jo] Dorsey leaving and we knew that.  We have always struggled off of  [Danielle] Steine and we are just going to have to figure her out and figure out how to be productive when we can get runners on base."
 
The Huskies have been hot of late winning four of their last five games, including a sweep of Buffalo last weekend.  During the four-game winning streak, NIU has hit .461 with five home runs and 35 RBIs.  
 
"Our hitters are very confident right now no matter who is in the circle," Sutcliffe said.  "We are going to approach our at-bats fairly similar to our strengths first and hopefully be able to capitalize on mistakes."
 
A big part of the success is reining MAC West Player of the Week Jenny Van Geertry (Mokena, Ill. /Lincoln-Way East). The Huskie junior batted .750 with two home runs and seven RBI over the last four games. 
 
"Jenny just has been really consistent all season," said Sutcliffe.  "Hopefully she can continue that on.  In all reality, she cannot hit .750 every week, but we would love for that to happen, but if she continues to do what she does, and put the ball in play, I think we will be alright.
 
"She has been doing a great job in that leadoff spot and getting on base."
 
Junior Sam Schmidt (Lombard, Ill. /Willowbrook) has been a crucial part of the Huskies' recent success hitting .727 with a home run and four RBIs.   Senior Alaynie Woollard (New Castle, Ind. /New Castle) has been consistent all year and batted .600 with a home run and drove in five runs in the last four games. 
 
"Sam has been neck-to-neck with Jenny and kind of overshadowed a little bit," said Sutcliffe.  "She is putting together a really good season for her.  
 
"Woo [Alaynie Woollard] for four years been when she gets hot, she goes and she goes off a little bit and gets hot again.  She works hard and does a nice job for us in an energy standpoint and in a leadership standpoint."
 
The Huskie pitching staff only gave up eight runs in the last four games with a team ERA of 2.13. Freshman Mackenzie Bryan (Elwood, Ind. /Elwood) posted a 2-0 record with a 0.91 ERA. Bryan also leads the Huskies with a 3.34 ERA this season.   Senior Tara Thacker (Uniontown, Ohio) is 1-0 during the streak and recorded a 2.74 ERA.
 
"All three of them are different in their approaches," said Sutcliffe. "They are different approaches for the batters that they have to adjust to. The more we can continue to use those three, the better we will be.  I think they have definitely have settled into the role of getting out of the whatever innings they can and working together on how to get us to win." 
 
Live stats and streaming will be available through niuhuskies.com.  Fans can follow live updates via Twitter @NIUscores.  Fans can also follow the entirety of the 2018 NIU softball season on Twitter @NIUSoftball, Facebook @NIU.Softball, and Instagram @niu_softball.  
 
-NIU-