While DeKalb held freezing temperatures over NIU’s Spring Break, the NIU softball squad was enjoying the warm atmosphere in Tempe, AZ, and the satisfaction of winning with a 5-4, 2-1, doubleheader sweep of the 19th-ranked Sun Devils of Arizona State University.

In the process of taking two from the Pacific Ten school, NIU broke its five-game losing streak and upped their record to 5-6 going into their doubleheader against the University of Arizona.

In Game One, NIU jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead on a Niki VanHooreweghe double. However, ASU came right back to take the lead with three runs in the bottom of the first inning.

Each team added a run apiece in the third to bring the score up to 4-3. In the top of the fourth, the seesaw tipped towards NIU as they scored two runs. Denise Bloy, Mary Borem, and Angela Porcelli came through with hits to take the lead for good as Tracy Meade picked up the save, while starting pitcher Kim Compton upped her record to 2-1.

“Overall, Kim pitched well. It may sound funny, but she did well to get out of the first just giving up three runs. We didn’t always help her at first. As the game went on, we did shut them down defensively,” said assistant coach Donna Martin. “Offensively, we had some good swings and most importantly, we put the ball into play when we really needed it.”

In Game Two, ASU scored the first runs of the game in the first inning. However, that was all that Meade would allow as she shut out the Sun Devils the rest of game, while giving up only three hits.

From there, the NIU offense took over scoring its only two runs in the top half of the fourth. VanHooreweghe and Porcelli came up with doubles, and Mindy Clothier drove in the winning run with her single.

“We’re pretty happy with the results,” said Martin. “We certainly didn’t feel we gave a good accounting of ourselves the last time we met them. Coming off those losses, we had something to prove to ourselves and also to them. I think we succeeded in both respects.”