MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich.— Kayla Estrada (Riverside, Calif./Martin Luther King) had back-to-back games with RBIs as the Northern Illinois University softball team split action against the Central Michigan University Chippewas. The Huskies (12-11, 6-5 MAC) took the first game 5-1 before falling to Central Michigan (15-15, 6-5 MAC), 8-1, in the second game.
 
Izzi Hanna (Granger, Ind./Penn) and Alana Powell (Chicago, Ill./Kenwood Academy) recorded multi-hit games in the first game of the day for the Huskies. Hanna went 3-of-4 at the plate with a run scored while Powell went 2-of-2, including a fourth inning solo home run.
 
Danielle Stewart (Frankfort, Ill./Lincoln-Way East) went 3-of-4 in the second game, the only Huskie to have a multi-hit game.
 
Game One Recap (NIU 5, CMU 1)
 
The Huskies opened the game with back-to-back hits as they put two runners on before the Chippewas defense collected three straight strikeouts.
 
Mia Morera (Simi Valley, Calif./Westlake) singled to center field to lead off the second inning as she began her journey around the bases. A sacrifice fly by Lia Nance (Oceanside, Calif./Oceanside) set Morera across for the first run of the game.
 
The Chippewas answered with a single run on a hit in the bottom of the second inning to tie the game.
 
Leading off the fourth inning, Powell hit her first home run of the season, sending the ball center field as NIU regained the lead.
 
Powell recorded the next hit for either team, a double in the top of the sixth inning as NIU maintained a 2-1 edge.
 
With two outs on the board in the seventh inning, Hanna and Stewart had back-to-back hits for the Huskies. Katy Ramage (Germantown Hills, Ill./Metamora Township) reached base after being hit by the pitch to load the bases for NIU. Estrada hit a 3 RBI double to right-center field for the final runs of the game for NIU.
 
Madison Carlson (South Beloit, Ill./South Beloit) pitched her fourth complete game of the season and struck out three batters.
 
Game Two Recap (NIU 1, CMU 8)
 
Stewart had the first hit of the second game for the Huskies, a single to right field, before she scored on Estrada's double as NIU took a 1-0 lead.
 
The Chippewas led off the bottom of the inning with a triple to right field before scoring on a defensive error by the Huskies. Central Michigan added four runs off four hits in the second inning as they took a 5-1 lead over NIU.
 
Stewart reached base in the third inning while Powell reached in the fourth as the Central Michigan defense stopped NIU from scoring.
 
Central Michigan added to their lead in the fourth, scoring one run off two hits and an error as they extended the lead to five at 6-1. The Chippewas added their finals runs in the fifth inning.
 
The Huskies placed two runners on the bases in the seventh inning before the Chippewas collected the final two outs to even the series at 1-1.
 
The series is set to conclude with a 12 p.m. CT first pitch on April 4 in Mount Pleasant.  
 
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