A struggling Huskies softball team hoped to end a losing streak this weekend, but only came home disappointed.

The Huskies were swept by Ball State in two games on Friday and then again Saturday, in a doubleheader with Miami-Ohio. All four games were played away from DeKalb, and the losses brought NIU’s losing streak to 11 games.

The Huskies started their weekend matchups falling to the Cardinals 5-1 in game one, and then 8-3 in the second contest. Between the two games, the Huskies notched 11 hits, but also committed seven errors to give BSU a total of five unearned runs to seal the victories.

“The defense just needs to get back to work, and we’ll be working on [the defense] this week in practice,” said NIU head coach Lindsay Chouinard.

Despite the defensive mistakes, senior Bailey Ouellette’s performance at the plate marked a bright spot for the struggling Huskie team. Ouellette crushed a two-run homer over the left field fence in the second game to mark her fifth shot of the season. The round-trip ball tied her record for homeruns in a season, as the senior hit five homers her freshman year with NIU,

“The seniors have done a great job and really have given their all to this program,” Chouiard said.

“Bailey’s having a great senior year and she’s going out and playing like she’s capable of playing.

[The seniors] are in their last three weeks of their careers, and they want [their careers] to be memorable and leave their legacy.”

Oulette has 10 more regular season games to break her own record. Last year, former player Michelle Nendza broke the NIU record as a senior with 10 homeruns in a season to leave a legacy of her own.

After dropping two to the Cardinals, the Huskies traveled to Ohio to square off against the RedHawks. Despite two quick runs from Miami-Ohio, the Huskies looked like they would break their streak when they scored three in the sixth to take a 3-2 lead.

Sophomore Andrea Colosimo started an NIU rally when she sent a single into left field to score Jenna Roberts and Krystn Sendejas. Colosimo went 3-for-3 with two RBI against the RedHawks.

Two batters later, freshman Zoe Sinner put the Huskies up by one after a single to center.

However, in the bottom of the inning, the Redhawks scored twice to seal the 4-3 victory in game one.

Game two was a different story as Miami-Ohio shut out the Huskies 7-0. The RedHawks scored runs in each of the game’s first four innings, with three coming in the third inning. The RedHawks never looked back to seal the sweep over the Huskies.

“Andi [Colosimo] is doing a good job, she’s doing what we want her to do.” Chouinard said. “Hopefully, she’ll keep doing it as we move forward. [For the rest of the team] they’ll just have to get back at it after this week.”