With coach Donna Martin choosing to rest senior ace Courtney Witvliet, the Huskies found themselves in a rut at Missouri Valley-power Illinois State Wednesday night.

Even though NIU headed into the second contest of the doubleheader after dropping a 4-0 setback in the first game, the Huskies were not planning on leaving Normal without handing the Redbirds their first home loss this spring.

Junior pitcher Jolene Heller earned her first victory of the season, and NIU drilled six hits as the Huskies took the second game, 7-4. Junior Gretchen Szymski continued her consistent hitting, going 3-of-5 for the day, and also had two runs batted in.

Heller (1-7) struck out just one batter in five innings, but NIU (13-24 overall) made the plays on defense when it counted.

Heller’s KO came against ISU’s Cutie Taylor in the bottom of the sixth inning, then senior left fielder Suzie Rizek caught a fly on the next out to seal a scoreless inning in the sixth. Sophomores Shelby Bernard and Paige Shemoski connected on a double play in the bottom of the seventh to seal the game for the Huskies.

The Rebirds (25-13) jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the first inning, but the Huskies’ bats came to life in the fifth. NIU tacked on five runs in the top of the second to seize the momentum. Second baseman Bethany Carroll and Rizek each scored runs, while senior right fielder Chrisy Johnson, designated hitter Samantha Knoll and Caroll each scored unearned runs.

In the opener, starting pitcher Amy Krahula took the loss, giving up six hits and four runs in six innings. The Huskies managed just four hits in that contest, as winning pitcher Audra Rast had five strikeouts in pitching a complete game for ISU.