The difference in the NIU softball team’s Saturday and Sunday games was like night and day.

In Saturday’s doubleheader against Ball State University, the Huskies were unable to make anything happen, dropping the first game 4-1 and the second 13-6. But they bounced back Sunday to end Ball State’s 11-game winning streak, defeating their Mid-American Conference rival 5-1.

In Game 1 on Saturday, NIU (10-22 overall, 5-5 MAC) was dominated by the Cardinals’ Marcy Molbey, who struck out 15 Huskies and allowed just one run in seven innings. Ball State (18-11 overall, 7-1 MAC) jumped on the Huskies early with two runs in the first off senior Courtney Witvliet.

“After BSU scored those two runs off us, we just started playing defensively with our bats,” NIU coach Donna Martin said.

Senior Chrisy Johnson, who replaced junior Kathy LeClair after LeClair injured her shoulder, batted in the lone run for the Huskies in the fifth inning.

“Chrisy did a great job for us,” Martin said. “It is difficult to come in like that and hit in the two-spot of the lineup.”

In Game 2, everything seemed to fall apart for NIU. The Cardinals tallied runs in each of the first six innings, while the pitching staff walked three batters and threw five wild pitches.

“Our pitching fell back into the way that we were pitching at the beginning of the season,” Martin said. “Walks extend your innings, which give them more opportunities to put the ball in play.”

The Huskies committed three errors in the second game, including one in the second inning that led to four of the Cardinals’ six unearned runs in the game.

“Pitching and defense are two-thirds of the game, and we didn’t perform well in either aspect today,” Martin said.

However, the Huskies’ offense sparked to life in the fifth inning, scoring five runs on five hits. Johnson and junior Gretchen Szymski each batted in a couple of runs.

On Sunday, NIU looked like a completely different team, using its next chance against Ball State’s Molbey to light her up for five runs and five hits.

The biggest blast came in the second inning when NIU junior Samantha Knoll knocked a three-run homer over the left-field fence.

“She was pitching me high and inside on Saturday, so I was waiting for it and just drove it out,” Knoll said of her Sunday slam. “After Saturday’s game, we came together as a team and decided that we were going to hand them their first conference loss.”

NIU added another run in the sixth inning when Johnson drove in junior Kinsey Olson with a two-out single to right field.

“I was happy that we were able to get that run in the sixth, because that run put us back up by four runs,” Martin said.

The Huskies got another strong performance from Witvliet on Sunday. She went seven innings, allowing one run while striking out four batters and walking none. The senior has gone 50-plus innings without allowing a walk.