The NIU softball team could not keep its momentum going, falling to Northwestern 8-2 Wednesday afternoon at Sharon J. Drysdale Field.

The Huskies (13-16 overall, 3-1 MAC) kicked off the five-game road trip after completing their first homestand of the year, which included the opening of conference play. The Huskies came into the non-conference game with a three-game win streak.

Nicole Gremillion started the Huskies’ offense by poking a single to center field to lead off the game. Adriana Sanchez doubled to right field, scoring Gremillion to take a 1-0 lead. Gremillion finished the day 2-for-3 with an RBI and run scored.

The Huskie defense began the day with a throwing error by shortstop Amanda Sheppard, which led to an unearned run on the next play.

“Errors are never helpful toward the process,” said NIU head coach Lindsay Chouinard. “And there were also a lot of miscues that we had defensively that didn’t help our cause.”

Back-to-back doubles began the Huskies’ half of the third. Dani Parrish scored from second on Gremillion’s two-bagger to left-center field.

But the Wildcats’ (18-9) offensive performance in the third and fourth innings opened the game up. Already having scored two in the third, on three hits, with a throwing error by third baseman Carly Norton, the Huskies needed an out. Pitcher Morgan Bittner struck out designated hitter Michelle Batts for the second out of the inning. Before the Huskies got off the field, however, Northwestern grabbed another two runs to take a 5-2 lead.

“Morgan started to struggle a bit,” said freshman Stephanie Tofft. “She was hitting her stuff pretty well, but they were hitting her, just going with the ball wherever it was.”

With runners on second and third in the fourth inning, the Huskies failed to convert runs. The Wildcats added three more on three hits to take an 8-2 lead.

“They only had three more hits than us but they scored more because of the timely hitting,” Tofft said. “They were pretty aggressive up to bat.”

In the top of the fifth, Tofft doubled to left-center field for the Huskies lone hit of the inning. The hit extended her record hitting streak to 19 games.

Tofft’s hit would be the last of the day for either team. The Huskies finished with seven hits to the Wildcats’ 10.

Bittner gave up seven earned runs on 10 hits, while striking out one in four innings of work. Tofft pitched a perfect final two innings in her first time on the mound this season.

“Coach [Chouinard] told me that I would probably start pitching more,” Tofft said. “It’s been awhile since I’ve pitched, but I was just going to go in there and do my best.”