At the end of the 1989 NIU softball season Julie Sexton had only one home run among her hit totals. Four months later Sexton came through with three home runs over five games to lead the Huskies to the championship of the Illinois Central College Tournament Sunday.

After opening tournament pool play with a 4-0 loss to Illinois Central, NIU used two Sexton home runs and 21 hits to shut-out both Ball State University and Bradley University by identical 9-0 scores. NIU beat Indiana State University 3-0 in the tourney’s semi-final round then gained revenge on ICC with an 11-hit, 7-2 victory for the title. The win improves NIU’s fall exhibition record to 4-5.

“After a nearly invisible offensive effort last weekend, we redeemed ourselves at the plate this weekend,” NIU head coach Dee Abrahamson said. “Overall we hit much better, played in some pressure situations, and worked everyone into the lineup. We gained a lot of needed confidence for this week’s NIC tournament.

Sexton came alive Saturday with a two-run fourth inning homer against Ball State and a first inning solo shot to start the Bradley game. Sunday’s four-bagger came as a sixth inning solo which capped a NIU four-run inning. The junior catcher added a triple and double to her Sunday totals. Heidi Hutchison got into the act with a pair of Sunday triples while Jeanne Richael came through with a single, double and triple in the championship game. NIU totalled 38 hits for the ICC Tournament.

The Huskies look to retain the hot bats as they head to Macomb, Ill., Friday for the Third Annual Coors Light National Invitational Championships hosted by Western Illinois University. NIU joins a field of 16 top NCAA Division I teams vying for the NIC crown. NIU meets Central Michigan University in its first round game Friday at 2 p.m.