Softball | March 2

DeKALB, Ill. – The action continues for the Northern Illinois University softball team as it heads south to compete at the University of South Florida's Bulls Invitational this Friday-Sunday (March 3-5).

THE LAST TIME OUT
The Huskies (3-7) are coming off a 2-3 showing at the Liberty Classic last weekend where the team beat Elon 7-4 on Saturday and Princeton 6-1 on Sunday.

Ally Rodriguez leads the team in the batter's box, batting .357 and 10 hits. The freshman outfielder is on a three-game hit streak and scored a season-high three runs versus Elon in the doubleheader closer last weekend.

Freshman pitcher Danielle Stewart, a two-way player, owns a team-low ERA of 3.23 and tossed back-to-back seven strikeout games versus Elon and Princeton, totaling 15 through the weekend. Strong on offense as well, Stewart posted two home runs and four RBI in the tournament.

THE COMPETITION
NIU will begin tournament action tomorrow at 9 a.m. CT when it takes on USC Upstate (15-0). That same day, the Huskies will face Rhode Island (1-4) at 3:30 p.m.

Although NIU has never played USC Upstate prior to this Friday's game, the Huskies have met Rhode Island once before in 1986 - NIU shutout the Rams 3-0 in that game.

On Saturday, NIU has a 9 a.m. date with Army (3-8) before concluding the day against Kansas (10-5) at/around 10:30 a.m.

It will be the first-ever meeting between the Huskies and Black Knights. Kansas however holds an 8-2 advantage it its all-time series with NIU. The last time the pair met was in 2017 when the Jayhawks edged the Huskies, 3-2.

NIU's weekend will end Sunday after they play USF (6-9) at 1 p.m.  The Huskies trail its all-time series with the Bulls, 7-2, with the latest matchup going USF's way in 2012, 5-1.

HOW TO FOLLOW
Live stats for all games can be found here. Although NIU's neutral site games will not be live streamed, the Huskies' game versus South Florida will be. A link to view that game will be available on the NIU softball schedule page this weekend.

NIU's complete schedule for this weekend can be found below. All times are CDT.
 
Friday, March 3: vs. USC Upstate, 8 a.m.
Friday, March 3: vs. Rhode Island, 3:30 p.m.
Saturday, March 4: vs. Army, 8 a.m.
Saturday, March 4: vs. Kansas, 10:30 a.m.
Sunday, March 5: at USF, 1 p.m.