DeKALB — The Huskie’s (17-26, 8-8 Mid-American Conference) victories snapped their six-game losing streak, which dated back to April 7. The wins against Eastern Michigan marked NIU’s second conference sweep of the season.

The softball team tallied a three-game sweep Friday and Saturday against the Eastern Michigan University Eagles in Ypsilanti, Michigan.

“Obviously they’re feeling good about it,” said Head Coach Christina Sutcliffe. “They know they still have a lot of work to do. These next two weekends are going to be big for them.”

“I definitely think they needed some wins under their belt to get some momentum going these next two weekends,” Sutcliffe said. “The last game was come-from-behind, which was nice to see as well. In the other two games, they were able to take the pedal off the throttle a little bit, where in that last game, they had to play under some pressure and come from behind.”

Friday — Huskies 7, Eagles 0

The Huskies opened the series Friday with a 7-0 shutout win. The victory was the team’s fourth shutout of the season.

Junior pitcher Alex Frenz continued her streak of play with a performance Sutcliffe said was one of her best of the season. Frenz tallied three strikeouts and didn’t allow a run through six innings pitched.

NIU scored its first runs of the contest in the top of the second inning when senior infielder/catcher Bekah Harnish and sophomore designated player Kayla Scaperrotta scored off a two-RBI single by freshman outfielder Katie Wingerter.

A two-RBI home run by senior infielder Alaynie Woollard increased the Huskie’s lead to 4-0 in the top of the third. NIU’s lead increased to five runs after an RBI single by junior infielder Sam Schmidt in the top of the fifth inning.

The Huskies scored their final two runs of the game in the top of the sixth inning. Harnish scored off a fielding error after Scaperrotta’s single, and sophomore designated player Kalalaelisa Toomalatai came home after an RBI single by freshman catcher Kira Mickelson.

Saturday game one — Huskies 9, Eagles 1

The softball team’s offensive onslaught continued into the second game of the series as NIU defeated the Eagles 9-1.

The Huskies opened the scoring for the game in the top of the second inning when Woollard scored off an RBI single by Scaperrotta. A two-RBI single by Harnish in the top of the third inning increased NIU’s lead to 3-0.

Woollard scored her second run of the game off an RBI walk by Mickelson. The freshman catcher was 3-of-5 at the plate, tallied three RBI’s and recorded three walks during the three-contest series.

“Kara Mickelson, off the bench, had really good offensive at-bats,” Sutcliffe said. “She came in clutch a couple times for us, so that was really good to see.”

Junior outfielders Jenny Van Geertry and Katie Lamich scored off a two RBI double by Schmidt in top of the fourth inning to increase the Huskies lead to six runs.

Eastern Michigan scored its first run of the series in the bottom of the fourth inning to reduce its deficit to 6-1.

The Huskie’s final runs of the contest came off a three RBI home run by Schmidt in the top of the third to give the team a 9-1 lead and eventual victory.

Saturday game two — Huskies 4, Eagles 3

NIU concluded the weekend series with a 4-3 victory against the Eagles.

The Huskies trailed Eastern Michigan 3-1 going into the top of the sixth inning. Schmidt scored NIU’s first run of sixth inning to reduce the team’s deficit to one run after an RBI single by Harnish with two outs in the inning.

Harnish scored off a throwing error by the Eagles later in the inning to tie the game 3-3.

“Bekah Harnish come through big for us, she did great,” Sutcliffe said. “She ended up playing all three positions, which is hard to do. It was nice to see from senior leadership and push through.”

Toomalatai scored off an RBI double by Mickelson to give the Huskies the deciding run of the game and the eventual 4-3 win.

“Sweeping the weekend is big for us,” Sutcliffe said. “It got us back in the mix in things within the MAC.”

NIU will return to action for a three-game series against the Western Michigan Broncos 3 p.m. Friday at Mary M. Bell Field.