Stephanie Tofft
The Northern Illinois University softball team had its games against Wichita State and Missouri State at cancelled today due to inclement weather in the Denton, Texas, area.
NIU was scheduled to face the Shockers at 10 a.m. and Missouri State at 5:30 p.m.
Northern Illinois (3-4) will close out play in the Fairfield Inn and Suites Classic hosted by North Texas Sunday, when the Huskies take on Creighton. First pitch is set for 9 a.m. There will be live stats available at meangreensports.com.
Friday’s action in Denton saw two losses for the NIU softball squad during the first day of competition.
Northern Illinois (3-4) dropped a 5-4 decision to Creighton in extra innings in its opening game and fell 8-3 to the host Mean Green in the nightcap.
After falling behind, 4-0, after four innings, the Huskies (3-3) battled back with a four spot in the bottom of the sixth. Nicole Gremillion (Missouri City, Texas/Elkins) began the rally with a lead off double and advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt by Dani Parrish (Plainfield, Ind./Plainfield).
Stephanie Tofft (Lincoln, Calif./Lincoln) doubled to left field, scoring Gremillion and putting herself in scoring position. Shelby Miller continued the hit parade with a double of her own to score Tofft from second and cut the deficit in half, 4-2. NIU tied the game, 4-4, on an Emily Woller two-run single.
Dani Parrish
The Huskies held Creighton (5-0) scoreless in the top of the seventh, but was unable to cross the plate in the bottom of the frame and the contest went into extra innings. The Blue Jays scored the game-winning run on a fielder’s choice in the top of the eighth.
Tofft led the way for the Huskies going 2-for-4 with an RBI and run scored, while Woller was 1-for-3 with two RBIs.
“The first game was a well-fought game,” NIU head coach Lindsay Chouinard said. “What it came down to at the end of the game was they were able to put the ball on the ground and we weren’t. The girls fought hard and the pitchers did a great job for us.”
The NIU offense struggled against North Texas (2-3), scoring three runs on three hits.
Freshman Bryanna Phelan (Coal City, Ill./Coal City) led the way, going 2-for-3 from the plate with two runs scored and a stolen base.
After NIU jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first, UNT responded with two runs in the bottom of the frame, two in third and three more in the fourth to take a 7-1 advantage. The Huskies fought back with two runs in the sixth, but that would be as close as they would get.
For more information on NIU softball and Huskie athletics, visit www.niuhuskies.com.
