Over the weekend, softball got its first taste of home and MAC play as it played Western Michigan in a two-game series.

The Huskies (11-18, 1-1 MAC) ended up with a draw in the two games, winning the first 12-5 over the Broncos (10-17, 1-1 MAC). They were unable to hold their lead in the second game, losing 7-6.

The first game had the makings of a blow-out early on for the Broncos, as they had jumped to a 4-0 lead in the top of the third while NIU still did not have a single hit.

NIU pitcher Jessica Sturm struggled to secure the last out of the inning after allowing four runs, so sophomore Emily Norton came in to replace her.

Norton would only give up one run in the top of the fourth inning, with the Huskies then trailing 5-0 and still hitless.

NIU came back in the bottom of that fourth inning to score three runs, but without the benefit of a hit. The Huskies did that often talked about but rarely seen aspect of manufacturing runs. Thanks to errors, walks, a few stolen bases and another timely throwing error that scored two, the Huskies plated two runners with no hits. The third run scored on a sac bunt with a runner on third, with the RBI going to catcher Erika Oswald.

Head coach Christina Sutcliffe knows it’s not a common sight to see in a softball game but credits her team’s approach at the plate.

“Definitely not a standard thing,” Sutcliffe said. “They were making an adjustment starting to put the ball in play, causing some walks, putting some more pressure on them, and having extra runners on base. We were able to capitalize on it.”

The Broncos did not score another run the rest of that game. The Huskies came back with another three runs in the bottom of the fifth inning, and then tacked on six runs in the bottom of the sixth with the help of an Ashley Kopp grand slam. Kopp hit a screamer down the left field line, traveling well past the 200 feet sign on the fence.

Kopp credits her teammates for their approach not only in that inning, but in slowing the game down.

“It felt good to put the team away,” Kopp said. “Obviously we were up but it gave us more confidence going into the last inning to secure the win. I think that as a whole we weren’t patient in the beginning, and to see other batters be patient it helps the whole team. All the batters before me that got walked saw a ton of pitches so it helped a lot to see a lot of pitches.”

Going into the second game Saturday, the Huskies continued their hot hitting as they posted five runs in the first three innings. Western Michigan started the scoring off in the first inning with one run; NIU answered with two of its own. The Broncos posted another run in the third and NIU answered with three.

The Broncos employed a strategy of small ball early on, despite the wind blowing out straight dead center field. They took to bunting runners over in both the second and third innings.

“It’s just really trying to make some things happen,” said Kathy Leitke, Western Michigan head coach. “We were really off balance with a couple of our key hitters; we tried a few things a little bit different. You got to see what works on any given day.”

Norton started for NIU and went 5.1 innings, giving up four runs, as she could not get out of the top of the sixth inning. Sturm then came on in relief and got out of the sixth, keeping NIU up 6-4.

The Huskies posted no runs in the bottom of the sixth, and needed to just hold on in the top of the seventh for their second victory in as many days.

The Broncos started off the top of the seventh with a hit batter and then an error at third allowed the next batter to reach. Following a single and then an RBI groundout, a fielder’s choice resulted in the second out at home plate to stop what was a crucial run possibility. Christina Pigozzi drove in a run with a single to tie the game at six. Sabrina Gamboa hit a grounder to third base which resulted in another error, scoring the final and deciding run of the inning before Sturm induced a grounder to second for the final out.

The Huskies had to score at least one run to tie the game in the bottom of the seventh, and they were able to get a runner to third via an Oswald single, stolen base and advancing to third on a wild pitch, all with no outs. Pinch hitter Emily Woller and the next batter, Stephanie Wonders, went down swinging. Sturm induced a walk from an erratic strike zone, and with two outs and a runner on third, Bryanna Phelan struck out swinging to end the game.

“You can always get better at playing when the game is on the line,” Sutcliffe said. “I’m glad we had that game now rather than coming down the line in the MAC tournament. This is what the MAC is about, one run games. They [have] got to be able to learn to play under the pressure, so better now than come May. We’ve been struggling offensively, so to throw 12 runs up yesterday and six runs today, I’m glad to see our offense moving along.”