NIU softball took on Lindenwood University Monday afternoon in a doubleheader. The Huskies (5-8, 0-0 MAC) held onto the lead in Game 1 until the LWU Lions (5-7, 0-0 OVC) launched two balls out of the park in the sixth inning to take control. Unable to respond in the seventh inning, NIU lost to LWU 2-1.
The Huskies fell behind early in the second game, as the Lions scored two runs on an error in the second inning. Base hits and game awareness let NIU tie it up, scoring a run in the fourth and sixth innings.
After going extra innings, senior first/third baseman Madison Mathews doubled out to left field to send junior catcher/outfielder Rylie Hartman home and take the lead. The Huskies kept the Lions from pouncing to win game two 3-2 in eight innings.
“It was a tough day,” NIU softball head coach Kathryn Gleason said. “We’re struggling at the plate, and we just need one person to open it up and relax. We’ve been timid at the plate a little bit, so if we stick with it and stay determined… the offense is going to come around.”
Hartman helped carry the Huskies on offense through both games. She went 1/2 and walked once in Game 1, and picked up the RBI on Mathews’s run. Hartman walked once and struck out once in Game 2 and scored all three runs. She said the team’s energy helped the Huskies carry out a victory.
“Today’s (win), I would probably describe it as electric,” Hartman said. “We had amazing energy throughout the whole game. Even the coach from the other team commented on our energy. It really showed just what we can do as a team. When we work together, all hands on deck, good things will happen.”
After recording no stats in Game 1, freshman outfielder Lia Nance fired up in Game 2. She went 2/4 at the plate and stole 1 base. She said pride kicked in for NIU to start the second game after coming out flat in the first.
“We didn’t take that first loss well,” Nance said. “We were willing to do anything to get it back, and we did.”
Mathews also found offensive success in both games. She went 1/4 at the plate in Game 1, and scored NIU’s solo run in the fourth inning. Her production increased in Game 2, going 3/4 and recording three RBIs.
Junior pitcher Lily Cassell pitched through Game 2, keeping the Huskies in the game. She allowed 5 hits and 2 runs. Cassell threw 2 strikeouts and 3 walks. Gleason credited Cassell’s performance in the circle.
“She’s so competitive and so passionate,” Gleason said. “She believes and trusts in her catchers, and what they’re calling. She hits her spots. She uses all of her pitches to go to a hitter’s weakness. She just stuck with it. We made some defensive mishaps that we’ll clean up, and she just came back. She went eight innings. It’s early in the season, and to have that endurance is going to help us down the road.”
UP NEXT
The Huskies will compete in the Southern Illinois University Tournament against the University of Wisconsin-Madison Badgers at 11 a.m. March 8 in Carbondale, Illinois.
