NIU’s softball team lost to the Fighting Irish last Friday at South Bend, 4-1.

The Huskies (10-12) got off to a good start, striking first to take the lead in the top of the first inning.

It started off with a bunt by Nicole Gremillion, who then stole second to put herself in scoring position.

The next batter, Andrea Colosimo, followed up with a double to right-center, which brought in Gremillion from second base to give the Huskies the lead, 1-0.

The Huskies had a chance to get more in the first inning. Colosimo was on third and Stephanie Tofft was on second after singling and stealing second with nobody out.

NIU, however, was unable to capitalize on the opportunity and the next three batters were retired in order.

The Huskies ended the first inning leading, 1-0, after recording three hits.

Head coach Lindsay Chouinard said she was pleased with the way the team came out of the gates.

“We came out really well offensively,” Chouinard said. “Our first three batters got hits, and we scored a run and were feeling good. It was a good start for us.”

Despite the Huskies’ good start on offense, they would remain relatively quiet offensively for the remainder of the game, as they did not score another run, and only recorded two more hits.

Chouinard said she believes that this was due to Notre Dame’s strong pitching performance.

“You have to credit Notre Dame,” Chouinard said. “Their pitching was very good, and they did a good job of executing all game long.”

Notre Dame (17-6) answered in the second inning. Amy Buntin singled to left and was able to advance to third on an error by Colosimo.

Buntin was brought in to score on a sacrifice fly to center field by Alexia Clay. That tied the score, 1-1 at the end of the second inning.

The Irish would take the lead for good in the fourth inning. Kelsey Thornton, who pinch ran for Heather Johnson who singled, scored on a single from Clay to give her a second RBI of the day, making the score 2-1.

Notre Dame made the score 4-1 in the fifth inning, when it added two more runs on a Johnson single that drove in two runs.

If the Huskies would have done some things differently, Chouinard said they probably would have won the game.

“We made too many mistakes on defense, and we needed to be timelier on offense,” Chouinard said. “We need to clean up defensively and be more opportunistic on offense, and we will be fine.”