DeKALB | A month can make all the difference.

Last time the NIU softball team played North Dakota State, it lost 11-2. In four innings, the Bisons collected 10 hits and four walks.

That game was in February.

Last Friday, the Huskies took the Bisons into extra innings at the Hawkeye Classic in Iowa City, Iowa, but lost again 2-1. NIU took third in the tournament.

Freshman pitcher Kate Greenough tossed seven scoreless innings, but NIU failed to score in the same period, forcing the game into extra innings.

Softball plays extra innings by international rules. This means the last batter from the previous inning starts the inning on second base.

Batting first, NIU scored one run in the top of eighth. North Dakota State responded, hitting back-to-back doubles to end the game.

With one loss in the classic, NIU returned to the field Saturday to South Dakota State.

The Huskies fell behind early, but scored three runs in the bottom of the fourth – giving them a 3-1 run.

The Jackrabbits grabbed another run in the top of the fifth, but that would be all, as the Huskies pulled off a 3-2 victory.

“It took us a little while to get going, but we did,” NIU head coach Donna Martin said. “Michelle Nendza had a good game and Ellen Stoddard hit a home run. It was a bomb.”

The Huskies split the double header on the final day.

NIU started off the day with a 6-4 win over Ball State, but it could have used some of those runs in the second game – falling 2-0 to host Iowa.