NIU softball coach Dee Abrahamson went into this weekend’s St. Francis Tournament looking more to gain some experience for her younger players than to win. Now that the weekend is over, she is happy to have come out with some of both. Her squad won three of its four games, and everyone got a chance to play some innings.

“We got a chance to do what we wanted, putting a lot of different people in different places,” Abrahamson said. “Luckily, the weather held off. That was a pleasant surprise.”

In NIU’s first game Friday night, the team shut out Detroit 9-0. “We were hitting the ball everywhere,” Abrahamson said of her victory.

In the nightcap, the Huskies defeated the host, St. Francis, 4-1, thanks to the bat of Lisa Gilfoy who smashed a three-run home run over the left-field wall.

NIU continued its winning ways Saturday by defeating St. Xavier 4-3. The Huskies jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning and held on to that lead until St. Xavier tied it in the sixth inning. NIU drove another run across the plate in the bottom of the seventh to secure the victory. Unfortunately, the luck ran out in the Huskies’ second game Saturday. Against Illinois Community College, the Huskies once again took an early lead on Kathy Bulow’s three-run homer in the first. The game went back and forth until ICC came up with a big inning and put the Huskies away 9-3.

“We just couldn’t break their momentum,” said Abrahamson. “We hung in there, but it wasn’t enough.

“Heidi Hutchison had a great weekend. We had her batting second, and she went 4-9 (.444). Besides that, she reached base ten times, as did Jill Justin who was 7-11 (.636).”

In their four games, the Huskies put 52 runners on base.

“It was great to see all the baserunners. The more we reach base, the better chance we have of scoring runs,” Abrahamson said.

This coming weekend, NIU heads to Western Illinois to play in the National Invitational Championship. The NIC will be different in that it is a double-elimination format, whereas St. Francis guaranteed each team four games.

“We’re looking forward to the NIC,” Abrahamson said. “One major change will be during a pressure situation, I may not stay with a younger player. Since we need the innings, and it is a double-elimination, I will probably put in someone with more experience to help us advance.

“We accomplished a lot this weekend. Everyone got some action, and we now have some idea of where everyone’s best position(s) are. I just wish we hadn’t lost that last game by such a large margin.”