NIU’s softball team has struggled to produce runs for most of the season, and in a doubleheader against Northwestern on Wednesday, the outcome was no different.

The Big Ten opponent proved to be too much as the Huskies dropped the first game 3-0. In Game 2, NIU (9-20), which is hitting .225 as a team for the season, was shut down at the plate again, managing just one hit in an 8-0 loss.

Game 1 featured NIU senior Courtney Witvliet on the mound. She kept the Huskies in the contest, pitching four strong innings and allowing just two hits and no runs.

But the Huskies were unable to make anything happen from the plate, getting only three hits over seven innings.

Northwestern (11-13) broke the scoreless tie in the fifth, driving in a run, then put the game out of reach when Alyson Schulz hit a two-run homer in the sixth.

NIU coach Donna Martin brought in freshman Anne Hamilton for the sixth inning to save Witvliet for this weekend’s game against Ball State. Hamilton picked up the loss, allowing three runs, including the home run to Schulz, in two innings of work.

“We just made a few bad pitches that really came back to haunt us,” Martin said. “We got behind some hitters and got burned by a couple poor decisions, but when you hit the ball as bad as we did, it’s tough to win.”

In Game 2, Northwestern’s Lauren Schwendimann pitched five solid innings for the Wildcats, striking out nine.

In the top of the fifth, junior Gretchen Szymski led off the inning with a single to right field, but the Huskies were unable to capitalize as Hamilton, who came in as a pinch runner, was picked off. Schwendimann struck out the next two bats to end the game.

Jolene Heller took the loss for the Huskies, giving up five hits and six runs — two earned — in three innings.

“We didn’t really play that poorly today, but again, we just struggled to score runs and generate offense,” Martin said. “Hitting is cyclical, and right now we are on a down cycle. Hopefully, we will recover for the weekend.”