TOLEDO, Ohio. – The Northern Illinois University softball team rewrote the history books after breaking two stolen base records in its doubleheader split versus Toledo Saturday afternoon at Scott Park Softball Complex.
Caitlyn Shumaker (Bellefontaine, Ohio/Bellefontaine) notched her 27
th steal of the season while the team nabbed its 104
th stolen base of 2023 to ink two new single season records.
"For both of those records to go down on the same day is pretty special for everybody involved," said head NIU coach
Christina Sutcliffe. "Our team's goal all year was to go after that record, and we've had total buy in all season long on what we're doing on the bases. So just for everybody involved with that, you don't break that record with one individual,"
Sutcliffe was equally as proud of Shumaker for smashing the individual stolen base record.
"Shu's (
Caitlyn Shumaker) is absolutely amazing. She's had that goal set in mind since the last game of last year. She's put in the work to do something as incredible as that,"
Game One | NIU 4, Toledo 1
In the second frame of game one,
Kiley Conner (St. John, Ind./Lake Central) got things started for the Huskies with an RBI single through the right side, scoring
Brianna Pechman (West Chicago, Ill./West Chicago Community) who was pinch running for
Sam Mallinder (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield North).
The Rockets tied the contest 1-1 in their second inning at-bat with a solo shot over the fence, but that would be the only run winning pitcher
Danielle Stewart (Frankfort, Ill./Lincoln-Way East) would allow.
In the next inning, Mallinder fought through countless foul balls and notched a two RBI, three-run single to center field to give NIU the go-head run.
Lily Cassell (LaGrange, Ohio/Keystone) came in the game in the top of the sixth inning to relieve Stewart in the circle. Cassell allowed just one hit and no runs through the final six outs, sealing the Huskies' 4-1 triumph over Toledo.
Notes
- NIU scored four runs off four hits and had no errors
- Toledo scored one run off three hits and had one error
- Mallinder led at the dish going 1-1 with two RBI
- Stewart improved her record to 9-8 in the circle
- She had two strikeouts and just three walks in the win
Game Two | NIU 6, Toledo 12
Game two was the opposite story of game one; the two teams combined for 18 runs and 24 hits in the doubleheader closer.
NIU took the first lead of the ballgame when
Kelly Walinski (Worth, Ill./Marist) singled through the left side in the first inning, scoring
Courtney James (Fishers, Ind./Fishers).
The Huskies later went up 5-1 in the second inning after singles from Walinski and Stewart, plus a wild pitch, which helped
Ellis Erickson (Lutz, Fla./Freedom) reach home plate.
After Toledo scored in the third frame,
Cara Cruthers (Bartlett, Ill./South Elgin) inflated NIU's lead to 6-2 with her RBI single which scored Stewart.
From there though, the Rockets started their comeback, scoring 10 unanswered runs through the remainder of the game. In the end, the Huskies fell 12-6 in game two.
Notes
- NIU scored six runs off 10 hits and had two errors
- Toledo scored 12 runs off 14 hits and had two errors as well
- Walinski led in the batter's box going 3-5 with two RBI
- Her three hits tied her season-high
Up Next
The two teams will close the series tomorrow at 11 a.m. CT. The game will not be live streamed, but
live stats will be available come game time.
"From here on out, we need to win the series. We should sweep when we can, but it's more important to win the series. We're fighting to be in the top-four of the league, that's our goal,"
