DEKALB, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University softball team clinched a berth in the 2019 Mid-American Conference Softball Tournament with a 4-3 victory over Western Michigan in 11 innings at Mary M. Bell Field Saturday.

In the bottom of the 11th with the score tied, 3-3, runners at the corners with two outs, and a run already in, NIU (25-22, 10-8) freshman Katie Keller (Geneva, Ill./Geneva) drilled a single to centerfield to drive in Jenny Van Geertry (Mokena, Ill./Lincoln-Way East) for the game-winner.

"She didn't have a great day offensively or defensively," said NIU head coach Christina Sutcliffe. "For her to come up, again, with the game on the line, you're almost like, 'well, she's due at this point.' She sat on the change up and was able to drive it up the middle and get the hit."

Kara Apato (Oak Lawn, Ill./Marist) began the Huskie rally with an infield single to lead off the inning. Katie Lamich (Naperville, Ill./Naperville Central) sacrificed her over to second base with a bunt. With two outs and the Huskies down to their final strike, Van Geertry went the other way with a single to right to drive in Apato to tie the game, 3-3.

Both Van Geertry and Keller went 2-for-6 on the day with an RBI and run scored.

The Huskies opened the game's scoring with a two-out RBI double by Kira Mickelson (Wheatland, Wis./Westosha) to score Keller, who reached on a single up the middle and moved into scoring position when she stole second, in the first inning.

Senior Dominique Greeno (Lacey, Wash./North Thurston) scored the second tally of the day when Sam Schmidt's (Lombard, Ill./Willowbrook) fly to right field was misplayed by the Brono right fielder.

Western Michigan (17-25, 8-10) responded in the top of the third when the Broncos scored a pair on a two-out single by Erin Barg.

Sophomore Mackenzie Bryan (Elwood, Ind./Elwood) held the Broncos to just four hits the next seven innings until WMU broke through in the 11th. Back-to-back singles and groundout, put runners at second and third with one out. Western Michigan took the lead when Mickelson was unable to handle Greeno's throw attempting to get Samantha Pico at the plate.

"For Kenzie to give up the big two-run inning, then put zeroes up on the board the next seven innings is a big deal," Sutcliffe said. "But even in the 11th inning, that inning could've got really ugly when we didn't get that out at home. We were able to stay calm, refocus and get the two outs and give us a chance."

Fortunately, Bryan was able to limit the damage to the one run as she coaxed back-to-back groundouts to end the Bronco threat. She went 11 innings, allowed three runs, two earned, while striking out four to improve to 14-11 on the year.

The Huskies return to the field Saturday when NIU and Western Michigan conclude their series with a doubleheader. First pitch for game one is set for 1 p.m., with game two to follow. Fans can watch all the action live on NIUTube or follow through live stats on NIUHuskies.com

-NIU-