Snow flurries and cold weather froze the NIU softball team’s bats this weekend as the Huskies lost all three games at Western Michigan.

The Huskies have three wins in the last two weeks, including this weekend’s 1-0 and 3-2 losses Saturday and 1-0 loss Sunday.

“As far as the whole team is concerned, as a group, there’s not a lot of consistency,” NIU coach Donna Martin said.

In the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader, NIU pitcher Kathy Dearborn gave up a solo home run in the bottom of the third inning to Kelly Barnett – the only run in the game for WMU (16-16 overall, 3-2 MAC).

“The home run was the only earned run,” Martin said. “And that’s what we need to give us a chance to win.”

In the second game, the Huskies (10-22, 2-4) led 2-1 in the bottom of the eighth with two outs until Western Michigan’s Mary McCloskey drove a triple into center field off NIU pitcher Amy Krahula. The loss dropped Krahula’s record to 5-6.

In a move to get NIU’s better hitters more at-bats, Martin changed the lineup this weekend, moving sophomore Kelly Drozd from the No. 3 spot to the leadoff spot, which has been occupied by freshman Kelly Park. The change also moved designated hitter Lauren von Holst to the No. 4 spot in the order.

“We’ve been most effective with Kelly [Drozd], Shelby [Bernard] and Lauren [von Holst],” Martin said.

Drozd stayed in the leadoff spot for the final game Sunday, but the Huskies’ offense continued to struggle, striking out 11 times. Von Holst had the only hit of the game for NIU.