Illinois teams don’t face the rise pitch often. When the NIU softball team faced Central Michigan University ace Amber Puchalski, a California native and a rise pitch veteran, she used that throw to frustrate most of the Huskie batters.

“In the Midwest, we don’t see a rise ball very much,” NIU coach Donna Martin said. “That’s the first time we’ve seen a rise ball in probably a month.”

Puchalski (19-7) has dominated the Mid-American Conference this season with conference bests: 0.97 ERA (before this weekend) and 201 strikeouts. She continued her impressive 2001 run by striking out 19 batters in 12 innings this weekend. The freshman hurler tossed a four-hitter in Friday’s game, striking out 12 Huskie batters in a complete game.

On Saturday, Puchalski tossed her MAC-best sixth no-hitter of the season in a 9-0 shutout, fanning seven batters in five innings.

“I just went out there and threw like I know how,” Puchalski said. “I’m still not satisfied. I got behind too often in the count.”

What had been heralded as the match-up of the top two pitchers in the MAC, turned out to be a frustrating weekend at the plate for NIU.

Last year’s MAC Pitcher of the Year, Courtney Witvliet of NIU, emerged victorious in Game 2, striking out only one but giving up just two unearned runs and one walk.

Martin opted to use Witvliet (10-8 overall, 8-3 MAC) in only one game, choosing to save her ace for the two remaining conference matchups, including Monday’s double-header at Kent State.

NIU freshman Amy Krahula had a breakthrough performance Friday. After a tough first inning, Krahula shut out the Chippewas for the rest of the game.

The Downers Grove native had 7 strikeouts in seven innings. But she struggled in Game three Saturday, giving up nine runs and nine hits in just three innings.

“[For] Amy, that’s a lot of concentration for a team that’s on a hot streak,” Martin said. “It’s a lot of pressure. She’ll get better because of that.”

While Puchalski presented NIU a stiff challenge, the Huskies (16-29 overall, 10-9 MAC) knew they could make contact with her pitches. Freshman Megan Meyer hammered her first career home run off Puchalski in the fifth inning with a solo shot to left field. Junior Gretchen Szymski and senior left fielder Suzie Rizek also tallied singles Friday.

“There’s a lot of hype about her,” Rizek said. “She’s a good pitcher … but I think she’s very hitable.”

Martin shuffled her batting order around, moving Rizek to the back of the lineup to help adjust to Puchalski, but NIU failed to tally a hit on the Sunday’s game, which ended after five innings of play.

While Puchalski has received most of the accolades, winning MAC pitcher of the week honors five times, a major reason for Puchalski’s success has been the Chippewas solid outfield play.

“A lot of it has to do with my defense,” Puchalski said. “I couldn’t do it without them. We just work together as a team.”

Central Michigan (28-18, 17-4) leads the MAC with a .972 fielding percentage heading into this weekend, while making just 38 errors in 42 games.