AKRON, Ohio – The Northern Illinois University softball team suffered a 6-5 setback to Central Michigan in back-and-forth game in the Huskies' first contest of the 2019 Mid-American Conference Softball Tournament at Firestone Stadium Wednesday.
 
In a game that saw two ties and four lead changes, a three-run sixth inning by No. 5 seed Central Michigan (22-26-1) proved to be costly for the No. 4 seeded Huskies (26-24).
 
"I think we knew it was going to be back-and-forth," said NIU head coach Christina Sutcliffe. "That's kind of how the whole series with them was. Unfortunately, they were one-run better today. I feel we played good, we just didn't play great."
 
Trailing 5-4 headed into the sixth, the Chippewas began its rally when Rachel Vieira, who reached on a lead-off triple, was driven in on a sacrifice fly by Morgan Gardner. The next two Chippewas reached before Shaidan Knapp popped up to Kira Mickelson (Wheatland, Wis./Westosha Central).
 
However, Mackenzie Bryan (Elwood, Ind./Elwood) loaded the bases when she hit Allison Curtis to load the bases. CMU tied the game when Sara Hansen reached on an error and took the lead when Erika Underwood coaxed a bases loaded walk.
 
Central Michigan began the days scoring with a pair of first inning runs. NIU responded with two runs of its own in the bottom of the frame. With two on and one out, Mickelson blasted a bases-clearing double to right centerfield.
 
Jenny Van Geertry (Mokena, Ill./Lincoln-Way East) gave the Huskies a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the second when she singled up the middle scoring Katie Lamich (Naperville, Ill./Naperville Central) from second. However, Central Michigan came back to tie the game in the top of the third to tie the game, 3-3.
 
NIU retook the lead in the bottom of the fifth with a pair of runs. Freshman Katie Keller (Geneva, Ill./Geneva) sparked the rally with a one-out double. It was her 20th double of the year, tying the school record for doubles in a season. After an intentional pass to Mickelson, senior Abby Howlett (South Elgin, Ill./St. Charles North) tied the game with a single to left to drive in Keller.
 
Later in the inning with runners at first and second and two outs, pinch hitter Kayla Scaperrotta (Coral Spring, Fla./Coral Springs Charter) singled to right to drive in Jessica Rio (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield East), who was pinch running for Mickelson.
 
"I think we pressed a little bit trying to do too much," Sutcliffe said. "We just need to figure out how to be tenacious now and fight our way back through."
 
The Huskies return to the diamond tomorrow morning at 9:30 a.m. CT to face No. 8 seed Western Michigan. Fans can follow all the action via live stats on NIUHuskies.com and Twitter through @NIUSoftball and @NIUScores. The MAC will be streaming every game of the tournament through the tournament central page on mac-sports.com.
 
-NIU-