AKRON, Ohio – The Northern Illinois University softball team advanced to day three of the 2019 Mid-American Conference Softball Tournament after posting an 8-0 victory over Western Michigan at Firestone Stadium Thursday.
The No. 4 seeded Huskies (27-24) jumped out to an early 4-0 lead, and never left up, en route to NIU's third win over Western Michigan (18-28) this season. Today, it was the bottom of the order providing the offensive firepower. NIU's 7-9 hitters combined to go 4-for-5 with four RBIs and three runs scored.
"I've been saying this for the last month, it's really been them that's getting it going then the top's been coming through," said NIU head coach
Christina Sutcliffe of the bottom of the order. "That was a total team win, 100 percent."
Freshman
Katie Keller (Geneva, Ill./Geneva) opened the scoring with a one-out double to score
Jenny Van Geertry (Mokena, Ill./Lincoln-Way East) from second in the first inning. It was her 21st double of the year, breaking the school record for doubles in a season, surpassing Jill Justin's 20 set in 1987.
Katie Lamich (Naperville, Ill./Naperville Central) began NIU's three-run second inning with an RBI single to left field to score
Dominique Greeno. The next batter,
Sam Schmidt (Lombard, Ill./Willowbrook), delivered the big blow when she blasted a two-run double to left to give NIU a 4-0 lead.
Schmidt then put the Huskies up 5-0 with a solo blast over the left field fence as part of a four-run fourth. With runners at second and third and two outs, the Bronco right fielder misplayed the
Kira Mickelson (Wheatland, Wis./Westosha Central) fly ball and both runners scored give the Huskies a 7-0 lead.
The next batter,
Abby Howlett (South Elgin, Ill./St. Charles North), drilled a single to left field to score
Jessica Rio (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield East), who was pinch running for Mickelson, to give NIU an 8-0 advantage.
Schmidt led the Huskie offense, going 2-for-2 at the plate, with three RBIs and a run scored.
"She's been zoned in of late," Sutcliffe said. "I absolutely love her in that nine spot because she rolls the lineup back over to Jenny covering her. That's why we keep her down there even though she's been doing awesome. We know she's going to roll the line up over."
Mackenzie Bryan (Elwood, Ind./Elwood) was solid in the circle for the Huskies in the complete game shutout. She allowed three hits, two coming in the fifth, while striking out two.
"Kenzie was lights out today," she said. "She felt good this morning. Last weekend, they [Western Michigan] obviously showed they can hit. She kept them off balance."
The Huskies return to the diamond tomorrow morning at 11 a.m. CT to face Toledo. 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-
