Ten straight road games have seemed to take its toll on the NIU softball team as it dropped both games of the doubleheader against University of Illinois-Chicago.

In Game 1, the Huskies’ pitching fell apart in a 9-1 rout, while in Game 2 the Huskies produced nothing from the plate, losing the match 3-0.

In Game 1, NIU (15-27) jumped on the board quickly when junior Gretchen Szymski hit a single, driving in junior Samantha Knoll. The Huskies had four hits in the first inning, but would only manage two the rest of the game.

“We fizzled after the first inning,” NIU head coach Donna Martin said. “We had a problem sustaining energy in an inning and throughout the game. We didn’t have a very good pitching performance in Game 1 and that hurt.”

After a scoreless first inning, NIU pitching gave up 8 runs over the next three innings, including a pair of three-run homeruns in the second and fourth inning.

In Game 2, the Huskies reclaimed their pitching, but their bats remained cold. Freshman Amy Krahula held the Flames to only two earned runs on six hits in six innings.

UIC pitcher Alison Aguilar took a perfect game into the sixth inning before walking junior Kinsey Olson. Knoll broke Aguilar’s no-hitter in the seventh with a bloop single over the second baseman’s head.

“It was a tale of two games,” Martin said. “We didn’t pitch in Game 1 and we didn’t hit in Game 2. We are going to have to make some better adjustments at the plate if we want to start winning some games.”