Softball | February 23
DeKALB, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University softball team heads east to participate in the Liberty Classic this Friday-Sunday (Feb. 24-26). The Huskies will meet Marshall, Elon, Princeton and Liberty at the five-game event.
NIU returns to action after opening the 2023 campaign two weeks ago at the SDSU Season Kickoff. The Huskies logged an Opening Day win, beating Memphis 5-4 behind five unanswered runs through the first five frames.
The Huskies nearly doubled down in the Opening Day's nightcap with No. 22 Arizona State but suffered a 4-3 walk off setback.
Fiona Crane (Evergreen Park, Ill./Mother McAuley) led NIU in the batter's box, going 2-6 on the day and garnering two RBI through the pair of games.
Emily Dato (Munster, Ind./Munster) posted her first win of the season while
Lily Cassell (LaGrange, Ohio/Keystone) picked up the first save of her collegiate career.
NIU dropped its final three games of the tournament to stiff competition in Notre Dame, CSUN and San Diego State.
Looking ahead to this weekend's action, NIU hasn't met its four opponents in some time.
Elon and NIU will duke it out for only the second time. The Huskies beat the Phoenix in a high-scoring 13-9 affair on March 17, 2016.
With the all-time series knotted 5-5, the Huskies haven't met Marshall since 2005 with the previous four matchups going the Herd's way.
Dating back even further, NIU hasn't played Liberty since the 2001 season when the Huskies split their doubleheader on March 3.
The longest overdue matchup however will be when Princeton and NIU take the diamond as the last time the pair met was March 18, 1994. The Huskies fell 10-2 in that game.
Although live video will not be available for this weekend's tournament, a complete tournament guide with live stats links can be found below.
Liberty Softball Classic
Kamphuis Field at Liberty Softball Stadium
Lynchburg, Va.
Friday, Feb. 24
NIU vs. Marshall – 9 a.m. Live Stats
Liberty vs. NIU – 11 a.m. Live Stats
Marshall vs. Morgan State – 1 p.m. Live Stats
Princeton vs. Elon – 3 p.m. Live Stats
Morgan State vs. Princeton – 5 p.m. Live Stats
Saturday, Feb. 25
NIU vs Elon – 9 a.m. Live Stats
Elon vs. NIU – 11 a.m. Live Stats
Marshall vs. Princeton – 1 p.m. Live Stats
Liberty vs. Princeton – 3 p.m. Live Stats
Liberty vs. Marshall – 5 p.m. Live Stats
Sunday, Feb. 26
Princeton vs. NIU – 8 a.m. Live Stats
Elon vs. Marshall – 10 a.m. Live Stats
Liberty vs. Elon – noon Live Stats
