ST. LOUIS – The Northern Illinois University softball team powered its way to a pair of wins against Saint Louis and Bradley on day one of the Saint Louis Opening Round-Robin Saturday at the Billiken Sports Center. NIU beat the Braves 4-3 thanks to a timely seventh inning two RBI double before repeating with a 3-1 win over the hosts.
"Our pitchers did an amazing job today paired with creating some havoc on the bases," said head NIU coach
Christina Sutcliffe. "It was a complete day for the Huskies."
GAME ONE | NIU 4, Bradley 3
NIU (8-9) beat its in-state foe thanks to perfect situational hitting and effective defense.
Caitlyn Shumaker (Bellefontaine, Ohio/Bellefontaine) notched the Huskies' first score in the opening inning with her inaugural home run of the season. The two RBI shot over the right field fence scored herself and
Courtney James (Fishers, Ind./Fishers) to give NIU an early advantage.
With
Claire Norred (Tipton, Ind./Tipton) dealing in the circle, the Huskies held that 2-0 lead until the sixth when the Braves (7-12) finally sparked their offense. Bradley scored three runs after back-to-back doubles, giving them a 3-2 lead.
With
Emily Dato (Munster, Ind./Munster) in to pitch, NIU found itself in a hole with time running out. NIU had one more opportunity in the top of the seventh to either tie or take the lead. With two outs on the board and two Huskies on base,
Madison Mathews (Yuma, Ariz./Cibola) dug in. The sophomore proceeded to blast a double to right field, scoring
Kelly Walinski (Worth, Ill./Marist) and
Ellis Erickson (Lutz, Fla./Freedom).
With a 3-2 edge in the bottom of the seventh, Dato logged two strikeouts and forced a fly out to seal NIU's win.
NOTES
- The Huskies recorded four runs off nine hits and had no errors
- The Braves had three runs off five hits and had one error
- Dato improved her record to 3-1 in the circle
- Dato and Norred combined for four strikeouts and just one walk
- Shumaker was 2-3 at the dish with two RBI
- She led on defense as well with eight putouts
- Matthews was 1-1 with two RBI
- Cara Cruthers (Bartlett, Ill./South Elgin) and James posted two stolen bags each while Stewart had one
GAME TWO | NIU 3, SLU 1
With
Danielle Stewart (Frankfort, Ill./Lincoln-Way East) pitching, it was a defensive stalemate between NIU and the Billikens (5-14) until the fourth inning when the Huskies exploded for three runs to take the lead.
With the bases loaded, Matthews delivered a sacrifice fly to right field, scoring Cruthers and Shumaker. An error in the next at-bat allowed Erickson to race home and make NIU's lead 3-0.
The Huskies held the shutout until the sixth inning when Saint Louis logged an RBI double to make their mark on the scoreboard, but that was the only offense they could muster.
Stewart shut the door on the Billikens in the seventh after retiring all three outs in order, giving NIU its third-straight win.
NOTES
- NIU scored three runs off two hits and had no errors
- SLU scored one run off two hits and had two errors
- Stewart improved her record to 3-5 in the circle
- She had three strikeouts and just two walks in the win
- Ally Rodriguez (Romeoville, Ill./Plainfield East) was 1-4 at the plate and stole one bag
- Shumaker was 1-3 with a stolen base
- Walinski recorded one stolen base
- Matthews led with two RBI
UP NEXT
NIU will play Bradley and Saint Louis again tomorrow at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m., respectively.
