Rain and cold weather could not stop NIU softball pitcher Lindsey LaChiana over the weekend.

After two cancellations, the Huskies were finally able to play a doubleheader at Akron Sunday. LaChiana baffled the Zips, allowing only one earned run in 14 innings of work in the 1-0 and 7-1 victories.

NIU coach Donna Martin said she didn’t plan on using LaChiana for both games, but her performance kept her in the games.

“It wasn’t planned to use her for both games and the weather was iffy and she was still warm,” Martin said. “The plan was to start her and she just pitched well and had a lot of low-pitch innings so that helped her last.”

The Huskies (13-9 overall, 2-0 MAC) struck first in game one with an RBI double by right fielder Kathy Dearborn.

From there LaChiana allowed just two hits to go along with four strikeouts.

In game two the Huskies got off to a quicker start by scoring five runs in the first two innings.

The Huskies tacked on two more in the top of the seventh inning to seal their 13th victory of the season.

Third baseman Ellen Stoddard led the Huskies with three hits, five RBIs and a run scored.

“Ellen had a really big second game for us,” Martin said. “She hit in our first run and had a big home run.”

The Huskies are 2-0 in the MAC after starting out 2-10 last season in conference play.

“It’s a relay race, not a sprint,” Martin said. “Any road win is a good win and it’s always better to start 2-0 than 0-2.”