After starting the season 2-1 in conference play, the NIU softball team has lost its past six conference games.

The Huskies lost both games of their doubleheader 9-1 and 5-2 on Friday and then lost 3-2 in an 11-inning affair on Saturday to Kent State.

The Huskies, who had scored 17 runs in their past 11 games, shook up their lineup and put junior right fielder Therese Harper in the leadoff spot against Kent State.

Harper responded by going 3-for-6 in her debut Friday, but the Huskies weren’t able to manufacture any more runs than usual.

NIU freshman Lauren von Holst continued her hot swinging as she hit her third home run of the season in the second game.

Amy Krahula lost the first game of the doubleheader, dropping her record to 5-8 on the season.

Kathy Dearborn lost the final two games this weekend as her record fell to 3-12. She pitched 12 innings in the two games and gave up 12 hits and six earned runs.

In the ninth inning of Saturday’s game, the Huskies had the bases loaded with no outs and Lacey Gones up. Gones grounded back to the pitcher, who forced the runner out at home.

With one out and the bases still loaded, Annie Johnson hit a one-hopper back to the pitcher who threw to the catcher for the force out and then got the runner at first to end the threat.

“It’s a game of inches, and if we hit the ball three or four inches to either side of the pitcher, we would have had a base hit up the middle,” NIU coach Donna Martin said. “It’s not like we were up there striking out. We were hitting good pitches. That was just the luck of the game, and we aren’t so lucky right now.”

The one-run win by Kent State was its second of the season.

“This game was a huge confidence builder for our team,” Kent State coach Karen Linder said. “Going into this weekend, we were 1-7 in one-run games. We’ve played in games like this one, and to stay strong mentally and win is a big plus.”