DEKALB, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University softball team came out swinging in the first game of a doubleheader with Western Michigan at Mary M. Bell Field Friday.
NIU (10-21, 5-11) took the first game of the day, 8-1, behind a strong outing from
Claire Norred before suffering a 10-2 setback to the Broncos (10-20, 6-10) in the series finale.
Huskie starter
Claire Norred turned in another stellar performance for NIU against Western Michigan in the first game of the day. She held the Broncos to four hits, while allowing the one run. She recorded four strikeouts for the complete game victory. She faced the minimum four of her seven innings.
"When you throw 14 innings [in two games] and you only give up two runs total, you're doing something right to keep them off balance," NIU head coach
Christina Sutcliffe said. "She did a nice job, kept the ball low in the zone and we had some good infield defense in that first game to get her out of some tight spots."
The Huskies jumped out to a 3-0 first-inning lead in game one and never looked back.
Carley Goetschius got things started with two on and one out as the Huskie junior doubled to clear the bases and give NIU a 2-0 advantage. She took third on the play at the plate and scored when
Bianca Barone drove her in in the very next at bat.
After Western Michigan tallied its first run of the game in the top of the third, NIU came back with another big inning in the bottom of the fifth and again it was the two through four hitters doing much of the damage.
Kelly Walinski singled to lead off the inning and advanced to third on a
Katie Keller double. Goetschius walked to load the bases for Barone, who also walked to drive in Walinski and give NIU a 4-1 lead. Keller then scored when
Mackenzie Mahy also walked.
Sam Mallinder delivered the big blow in the inning with a two-RBI single up the middle to give NIU a 7-1 lead.
NIU added another run in the sixth when Barone doubled to right center, driving in Goetschius all the way from first.
The Huskies two through four hitters went 7-for-13 with five RBIs and eight runs scored.
"They jumped on her [Sydney Stefanik] early, then she settled in," Sutcliffe said. "We had to readjust again and eventually started breaking it back open later in the game."
Game two was all Western Michigan. The Broncos scored a run in each of the first two innings, and three in the top of the third to open up a 5-0 lead. Western Michigan then put up a four spot in the top of the fifth to take a 9-0 advantage.
NIU was able to extend the game when
Kira Mickelson blasted a towering two-run shot over the scoreboard in the left field.
The Huskies conclude their five-game homestand when NIU welcomes Valparaiso to Mary M. Bell Field on Wednesday. First pitch is set for 3 p.m. CT and fans can watch the games on NIUTube or via live stats on NIUHuskies.com.
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