A seven-run fifth inning, highlighted by a three-run single from Sam Mallinder (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield North), led the Northern Illinois University softball team to a 13-9 win over Ball State University in Mid-American Conference play Wednesday afternoon.
After a rough 11-0, 5-inning loss to the Cardinals in Game 1 of the doubleheader, the Huskies offense exploded for 12 hits as they snapped an eight-game losing streak for their first win of the season at Mary M. Bell Field.
"We had two goals going into this final game (of the series) and that was to put some zeroes on the board defensively and have fewer walks," Huskies head coach Christina Sutcliffe said, "and we were able to do both. We knew we were having good at bats and were staying patient at the plate in all three games but it wasn't paying off. It finally did in the third game."
Prior to Mallinder's hit, the Huskies erased an 8-0 deficit and tied the score at 8-8 in the fifth when Courtney James (Fishers, Ind./Fishers) connected for a three-run double to left-center field that scored Izzy Smith (Elmhurst, Ill./York), Caitlyn Shumaker (Bellefontaine, Ohio/North Dakota) and Mackenzie Mahy (New Lenox, Ill./Lincoln Way West).
"We needed to get a win at home in a bad way," Sutcliffe said. "We haven't been playing our best ball as of late but when you get a run-rule two games in a row and then come back in the third and prove that you're better than what you're showing I think that shows a lot for the heart of the team."
Ball State seemed poised to take the three-game sweep when it plated eight runs in the second inning, which included a grand slam from its No.7 hitter, but the Huskies didn't quit. A pair of RBI singles from Bianca Barone (Machesney Park, Ill./Harlem) and James along with a double steal that allowed Mahy to take home plate, and a wild pitch plating Kara Apato (Oak Lawn, Ill./Marist) trimmed the deficit in half in the bottom of the second. An RBI single from Avery Carnahan (Johnston, Iowa/Johnston) in the fourth then made it an 8-5 affair before NIU came up with its fifth inning offensive barrage.
"We were able to capitalize on some of their mistakes," Sutcliffe said. "Our game is to be aggressive on the bases and sometimes that creates errors but luckily we were on the better side of that."
The Huskies added one more insurance run in the sixth when Barone led off with a double, advanced to third on a groundout and scored after Apato reached on bunt single and advanced to third on an error from the pitcher.
Apato, James, Carnahan, Mahy, and Barone each had two hits for the Huskies (9-17, 3-8) who return to action this weekend for a three-game series at Central Michigan University beginning with a 12 p.m. doubleheader Saturday.
"Our pitchers need to go back to allowing fewer free bases and there are a couple of things we need to sharpen up defensively," Sutcliffe said. "Our hitters were very disciplined throughout this three-game series and we were happy with what we saw but we need to turn that into more wins."
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