Softball was slowed down by a non-conference opponent Wednesday afternoon, dropping a 2-0 affair to DePaul.

The Blue Demons (29-19, 14-5 Big East) utilized strong pitching as junior Kirsten Verdun held the Huskies (20-29, 10-8 MAC) to just three hits on the day.

“Offensively, their pitcher did a really nice job of mixing speed and keeping us off balance,” said NIU head coach Christina Sutcliffe in a news release. “We were guessing in the batter’s box.”

NIU provided similar pitching prowess as sophomores Jessica Sturm and Emily Norton combined to give up just two runs through six innings. Despite Sturm allowing seven hits, Sutcliffe believed she pitched well and there were no especially hard hit balls in the game.

Despite the end result, the game showed the Huskies’ ability, as they hung with a top-tier team in the Big East this year. That is what Sutcliffe had hoped to see come game day.

DePaul did its damage in the bottom of the third with an RBI double and the bottom of the sixth with an RBI single.

The only NIU players to collect hits were seniors Amanda Sheppard and Jennifer Barnett and junior Nicole Gremillion.

While the two runs were enough to secure a victory for the Blue Demons, Sutcliffe believes those runs shouldn’t have scored at those junctions in the game.

“We had some defensive blunders that don’t really show up on the scoreboard,” Sutcliffe said in a news release. “Both runs really [shouldn’t] have scored.”

The Huskies will return to their home field on Friday to play two games against MAC foe Toledo, and then take on Bowling Green on Saturday and Sunday.

The two series will help cement the seeding for the MAC tournament.