Splitting the home finale, the Northern Illinois University Huskies softball team (19-27, 13-12 MAC) battled against the Broncos of Western Michigan University (14-35, 8-16) in a midweek doubleheader. The Broncos took the first game of the day, 4-3, as NIU took their home finale in a 9-7 fashion.

Jenna Turner (Marengo, Ill./Marengo) and Danielle Stewart (Frankfort, Ill./Lincoln-Way East) were responsible for all four of the Huskies hits in the first game. Turner has recorded her eighth straight game with a minimum of one hit.

Rylie Hartman (Kankakee, Ill./Herscher) scored three of the Huskies nine runs in the second game as Katy Ramage (Germantown Hills, Ill./Metamora Township) went 2-for-3 at the plate.

“We had great fight and resiliency today. In the second game, we had ‘get on-pass the bat’ mentality and it allowed us to score,” said NIU head coach Kathryn Gleason. “(I’m) proud of how determined we were to get a win today.”

Game One Recap (NIU 3, WMU 4)

Western Michigan put two runs up on the board in the first inning as they recorded three hits.

Turner marked her eighth stolen base of the season in the first before scoring on Stewart’s RBI single to put NIU on the board in the first.

The Broncos’ Jordon Smith hit a two-run home run in the third inning as the Broncos took a 4-1 lead over the Huskies.

After the Huskies leadoff batter struck out to start the third, Turner singled to reach base. Stewart recorded her second hit of the game, a single to center field, to send Turner to second. Madison Mathews (Yuma, Ariz./Cibola) reached first base on an error by the first basemen sending Stewart and Turner across the plate as NIU trailed 4-3.

Lily Cassell (LaGrange, Ohio/Keystone) did not allow any additional hits in her final inning in the circle as Taylor Mackin (Minooka, Ill./Minooka Community) allowed only three hits. Cassell had four of the five strikeouts for the Huskies as the Broncos took the first game of the doubleheader.

Game Two Recap (NIU 9, WMU 7) 

The Huskies’ defense stranded two Western Michigan runners in the top of the first inning as they held WMU scoreless in the first.

After reaching via walk, Turner scored the first run of the game on a Mathews’ RBI double to center field. The Huskies loaded the bases after a Hartman walk and Ramage single before Mathews scored on a sacrifice fly to center field. Hartman scored the final run of the inning on Avery Carnahan (Johnston, Iowa/Johnston) RBI single as NIU took a 3-0 lead over the Broncos.

Stewart took over pitching duties for the Huskies, retiring five straight batters before Western Michigan got on the board in the third with a solo home run to right field. The Huskies quickly collected the final two outs of the third as they took a 3-1 lead into the bottom of the inning.

A 3 RBI single in the fourth inning gave the Broncos a 4-3 lead over the Huskies as the Broncos stranded an NIU runner on base in the bottom of the inning.

Hartman led off the bottom of the fifth with a single up the middle before scoring on Kayla Estrada’s (Riverside, Calif./Martin Luther King) RBI single down the right field line. The Huskies offense advanced on the base path due to consecutive passed balls and a stolen base to put runners in scoring position. A 2 RBI triple from Natalie Miller (Fredonia, Wis./Ozaukee) sent Carnahan and Lia Nance (Oceanside, Calif./Oceanside) across the plate. Miller scored the fourth run of the inning on a sacrifice fly as NIU took a 7-4 lead heading into the sixth inning.

After retiring the side in the sixth, a pair of errors by the Broncos defense placed Huskies in scoring position. Nance hit an RBI single to send Hartman across the plate for her third run of the game. Alanah Velazquez (Pembroke Pines, Fla./Pembroke Pines Charter) scored the final run of the game for the Huskies as Carnahan reached via a defensive error.

Stewart struck out the first batter before issuing a walk to Western Michigan. Payton Kelly hit a two-run home run to left field, trimming NIU’s lead to three at 9-6. Western Michigan’s Tristan Head grounded out to Stewart as the Huskie defense looked for the final out of the game. The Broncos put two more hits on the board as WMU’s Riley Dittmar scored the final run of the game.

Looking Ahead

Looking at the conference standings, the Huskies sit in sixth in the MAC standings. The top six teams will advance to the MAC Tournament, May 7-10 in Akron, Ohio.

The Huskies will conclude the regular season, May 3-4 as they travel to Toledo for a three-game series. First pitch is set for 12 p.m. CT on May 3 in Toledo, Ohio.