PHOENIX—After going down early, the fourth inning proved to be generous to the Huskies as the Northern Illinois University softball team (2-3) defeated the Colgate Raiders (0-3), 5-2 at the GCU Kickoff Classic.
The Huskies recorded six hits in the contest, led by a pair of hits from
Rylie Hartman (Kankakee, Ill./Herscher).
This was the second meeting between the squads with NIU victorious in both meetings.
"We needed to come out and just be ourselves and be patient at the plate," noted head coach
Kathryn Gleason. "A lot of people stepped up at the plate today and all weekend. Rylie really stepped up today and Kayla throughout the weekend, just an incredible job of coming in. Tess came in after a timeout and cleared the bases for us in the fourth. Each game we were either behind or in front and had to hold on. I think it's going to prepare us for another tough weekend coming up. We're really excited to get to Lafayette in that great softball environment and good teams in Central Arkansas, Sam Houston, Ole Miss. We'll prepare this week and get ready to go again on Thursday."
Katy Ramage (Germantown Hills, Ill./Metamora Township) marked the first hit of the game for the Huskies before Hartman had an RBI double to bring Ramage across the plate.
Hartman grabbed her second hit of the day, singling to left field in the bottom of the fourth. The Huskies quickly loaded the bases as
Alana Powell (Chicago, Ill./Kenwood Academy) and
Trinity Jones Estrada (Sylmar, Calif./John F. Kennedy) got on.
Tess Meyer (La Grange, Ill./Lyons Township) came up big with an RBI double to send Hartman, Powell, and Jones Estrada across the plate. Meyer added the fifth run of the game on a sacrifice fly from
Jenna Turner (Marengo, Ill./Marengo).
The Raiders were held to just one hit in the final three innings of the game after scoring the first two runs of the game in the first inning.
Three Huskies made an appearance in the pitchers' circle for NIU with
Lily Cassell (LaGrange, Ohio/Keystone) and
Hannah Bolly (Beloit, Wis./Parker) recording four of the five strikeouts for NIU.
Huskie Highlights
- Hartman recorded her first multi-hit game of her career.
- Meyer had her first multiple RBI game of her career
- Bolly collects the win for the Huskies while Taylor Mackin (Minooka, Ill./Minooka Community) earns her first save.
The Huskies return to the field, February 14-16, as they compete at the Louisiana Rajin' Cajuns Tournament. The Huskies will face Central Arkansas on February 14 at 11:30 a.m.