The Northern Illinois University softball team belted out a season-high 17 hits en route to a 12-8 victory over UIC at Mary M. Bell Field Wednesday evening.
“It was obviously an offensive showdown,” NIU coach Lindsay Chouinard said. “They did a good job of putting the ball in play and we did a good job putting the ball in play. I’m just glad we came out on top.”
A four-run fifth proved to be the difference as the Huskies (16-22) scored the most runs all season and their highest run output since scoring 14 runs against Central Michigan April 1, 2007.
Leading 8-6 in the bottom of the fifth, Zoe Sinner and Michelle Williams fueled the four-run outburst by the Huskies to help seal the victory. Sinner singled to left center field to drive in two runs and a two-run two-out home run by Williams capped the four-run fifth for NIU. UIC would add two more runs in the sixth to pull to within four, 12-8.
The Flames (9-28) would threaten in the top of the seventh, loading the bases and bringing the tying run to the plate with two outs. However, sophomore Morgan Bittner struck out Melinda Macias to end the contest.
NIU fell behind early on a two-out three-run homer to left field by Shannon Kehr in the top of the first inning, but rallied in the bottom half, scoring three runs on three hits and a UIC error. Sinner got things started with an infield single. With the bases loaded and one out, Jennifer Barnett singled to left to drive in Sinner. A bases-loaded double to right center field by Adriana Sanchez drove in two more runs to tie the game, 3-3.
A two-run blast by Amanda Sheppard to dead center field, the first home run of her career, gave NIU a 5-3 lead in the bottom of the second. However, it would be short lived as the Flames came back in the top of the third to retake the advantage, 6-5, after scoring three runs on a hit and a Huskie error. NIU tied the game again in the bottom the frame on a RBI double by Williams.
Williams led the way for the Huskies going 3-for-4 with three RBIs and three runs scored, while Barnett also went 3-for-4 with two runs batted in. Sheppard had a solid game all-around for the Huskies, going 2-for-3 from the plate with two RBIs, three runs scored. She also played well in the field, recording three putouts, including a nice diving catch.
“Amanda’s doing a really great job of settling in,” Chouinard said. “Over the last past couple of weeks, she’s just finding a way of getting it done. She’s making great plays in left. When she makes a diving catch, it’s no longer shocking or exciting. It’s just what she does now. She’s just become very consistent.”
Bittner, (11-9) who came in to pitch in relief of starter Whitney Owens (Pendleton, Ind./Pendleton Heights), allowed two runs, both unearned, on six hits in four innings of work to pick up the victory.
