BEREA, Ohio. – The Northern Illinois University softball team put on a defensive showcase Saturday afternoon at the BW Softball field, allowing just three runs through two games versus Kent State. The Huskies won both ends of the series-closing doubleheader as NIU improved to 8-6 in league play.
"To win that series was obviously big time for us, we definitely needed that," said head NIU coach
Christina Sutcliffe. "After yesterday, we made a couple of corrections and changed a couple of different things. We were playing on an all-turf field and that obviously that plays a little bit different, so we just needed to figure that little piece out and come back today and play the way we knew we could,"
Game One | NIU 5, KSU 2
After a scoreless first frame, pitcher
Danielle Stewart (Frankfort, Ill./Lincoln-Way East), batting in the four hole, knocked a double down the left field line to start the second inning for NIU (17-17, 8-6 MAC).
Sam Mallinder (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield North) followed with a triple to center field, scoring Stewart with ease.
In the next at-bat,
Kiley Conner (St. John, Ind./Lake Central) recorded a fielder's choice while a throwing error committed by Kent State's (9-23, 4-6 MAC) third baseman allowed Mallinder to race home for the Huskies' second run of the ballgame. Then,
Trinity Jones Estrada (Sylmar, Calif./John F. Kennedy) posted an RBI single to left field, scoring Conner to give NIU a 3-0 lead.
Scoring cooled until the fifth inning when the Huskies plated two more runs. A KSU fielding error from the shortstop helped
Courtney James (Fishers, Ind./Fishers) score. Then,
Kelly Walinski (Worth, Ill./Marist) gave NIU a 5-0 advantage when she logged an RBI single, scoring James.
Kent State made things interesting in the sixth inning after a pair of solo homers made the score 5-2, but the Huskie defense stranded two baserunners in the bottom of the seventh to seal NIU's 5-2 win.
Notes
- NIU scored five runs off 11 hits and had no errors
- Kent State posted two runs off seven hits and had two errors
- Jones Estrada led at the dish with a career-high three hits
- James and Walinski were 2-4 in the box
- Stewart improved her record in the circle to 7-8
- She notched five Ks and just one walk in 5.2 innings of work
- Claire Norred (Tipton, Ind./Tipton) recorded her third save with a strikeout in the last 1.1 innings
Game Two | NIU 2, KSU 1
In game two, the Huskies fell behind 1-0 in the bottom of the third inning after Kent State scored with an RBI single. NIU responded though in the fourth frame when Stewart reached on a Kent State error and Walinski was able to race home from her position on third base.
Then, Conner scored Stewart with a timely RBI double to left center, making the score 2-1 in favor of the Huskies.
KSU nearly scored in the bottom of the fourth, but Norred fanned the final out of the inning, stranding two base runners to keep the Golden Flashes in check.
Norred and the rest of the defense continued to step up big for the Huskies when the bats weren't clicking. In total, NIU stranded nine Kent State base runners to hold its 2-1 lead.
The bottom of the seventh inning was dramatic with Kent State putting two runners in scoring position, but again, the Huskie defense hung tight and forced a groundout to end the game.
Notes
- NIU scored two runs off four hits and had no errors
- KSU scored one run off eight hist and had one error
- Norred (4-1) took home her fourth win of 2023
- She garnered her second complete game win of the year as well
- She racked up three strikeouts and walked just two batters
- James, Rodriguez, Conner, and Cara Cruthers (Bartlett, Ill./South Elgin) notched hits in the game
- Conner owned the sole RBI
Up Next
NIU returns home this coming Tuesday (April 11) for a non-conference doubleheader versus Valparaiso (4-27, 1-11 MVC). Start times are set for 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. at Mary M. Bell Field.
"We'll take the day off tomorrow, but then we just need to come back focused on Monday and get to work on preparing for Valpo. We'll attack one inning at a time,"
