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Danielle Stewart
Scott Walstrom, NIU
6
Winner Northern Illinois NIU 24-24, 13-12 MAC
2
Buffalo BUF 12-35, 6-17 MAC
Winner
Northern Illinois NIU
24-24, 13-12 MAC
6
Final
2
Buffalo BUF
12-35, 6-17 MAC
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Northern Illinois NIU 2 2 0 0 0 0 2 6 8 0
Buffalo BUF 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 6 0

W: Stewart, Danielle (11-10) L: LUCYSHYN, Alexis (6-17)

Game Recap: Softball |

Huskies Beat Buffalo 6-2, Win Series Behind Stewart's Arm

The freshman pitcher logged 18 Ks through the weekend

BUFFALO, N.Y. – The Northern Illinois University softball team homered two times and pitcher Danielle Stewart (Frankfort, Ill./Lincoln-Way East) fanned nine Bulls in the Huskies' 6-2 win over Buffalo Sunday afternoon at Nan Harvey Field. With the victory, NIU earned its third series win of 2023.

"There's a lot of pressure on us to win right now, so for us to come out in the first two innings and take care of business is a testament to our team and the fight that we have," said head NIU coach Christina Sutcliffe.

NIU 6, UB 2
NIU (24-24, 13-12 MAC) opened scoring in the top of the first frame when Sam Mallinder (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield North) notched a groundout RBI, scoring Caitlyn Shumaker (Bellefontaine, Ohio/Bellefontaine) who had previously singled in the lead off position. In the next at-bat, Kiley Conner (St. John, Ind./Lake Central) batted in Courtney James (Fishers, Ind./Fishers) to give the Huskies a 2-0 lead.

Buffalo (12-35, 6-17 MAC) sent two solo home runs over the fence on Stewart in their turn to bat, but the freshman shook the runs off as she recorded six scoreless innings through the remainder of the game.

"'Dee Dee' [Danielle Stewart] was able to just stick to what she's good at and pitched herself out of some pretty big jams. She had the defense behind her, and we've been talking about limiting three bases, and the entire pitching staff was able to do that a lot better this weekend,"

Ellis Erickson (Lutz, Fla./Freedom) led off the second inning with her second home run of the season to give NIU the lead back. Later in the inning, Kelly Walinski (Worth, Ill./Marist) scored Shumaker with an RBI groundout to make it a two-run lead. In the home half of the inning, Stewart struck out the side for the first time since she did so against Maimi on March 26th.

Later in the top of the seventh when NIU needed some insurance runs, Walinski delivered a two RBI dinger, scoring herself and James who had walked prior. With the 6-2 lead, Stewart and the Huskie defense retired the Bulls in order to seal the NIU's 6-2 road win.

Notes
  • NIU scored six runs off eight hits and had no errors
  • Buffalo scored two runs off six hits and had no errors
  • Stewart rang up nine batters, tying her career-high which she set yesterday
  • Shumaker was 2-3 in the batter's box
  • Walinksi was 1-4 with four RBI
  • Mallinder and Conner had one RBI apiece

Up Next
NIU will play one final home series this weekend (May 5-6) at Mary M. Bell Filed with Bowling Green. A single game on Friday will open the series at 3 p.m. while a doubleheader starting at 1 p.m. is on deck Saturday. After Friday's game, the Huskies will celebrate their senior class with a special on-field ceremony which fans are encouraged to stick around for.

"The biggest thing is that we can't get three wins in one inning, we just have to take our time and figure out how to be better in every game. So first, we have to shake off this trip; it's a long trip home. We're going to have a little bit of soreness, so we need to take care of our bodies and make sure that we're in the right mindset for this weekend."

 
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