DEKALB, Ill. -- The University of North Dakota softball team lost a pair of games to Northern Illinois on Wednesday afternoon. UND lost the first game of the doubleheader 8-5 before dropping the second 10-2.
In the opening game of the day, North Dakota took a 4-0 lead heading into the bottom of the third. Taylor Hansen hit a two-run homer in the second to put UND on the board. In the top of the third, Amanda Johnson tripled to get in scoring position before a double by D Jantzer gave her a path home for the 3-0 lead. Kim Granata doubled to score Jantzer before the inning came to an end.
Northern Illinois got on the board with three runs off of four hits in the bottom of the third to cut UND's lead to one. North Dakota responded in the top of the fourth to take back a two-run lead after a single by Jantzer scored Nicole Babrowski.
Unfortunately, the Huskies went on to score five runs by the end of the sixth inning to secure an 8-5 win.
"The bats were there," head coach Eric Oakley said of the team's performance in the first game. "We just have to work on minimizing our walks and giving up more runs than we should."
In the series finale, UND again took the first lead, this time with two runs in the first inning. However, a different lineup in place for North Dakota was unable to respond to the Huskies renewed offense, as NIU went on to post 10 runs by the end of the fifth inning to win the game, 10-2.
"We tried a different lineup and it unfortunately brought our energy down," Oakley said. "We just need to lead how to play as a squad of 22, not just a squad of 16."
NIU's Jessica Sturm kept the UND to just two hits, which were both recorded in the first inning by Megan Keegan and Emily Bell.
UND's Kaylin VanDomelen started the first game, pitching 4.2 innings before Taylor Hansen came in for relief. Megan Hedstrom started the second game for UND, but Sophie Pratt came in to pitch 0.1 inning and VanDomelen finished the game pitching 1 inning.
North Dakota continues midweek play, taking on Indiana State in a doubleheader on Thursday, April 3, in Terre Haute, Ind. The first game is scheduled to start at 2 p.m. (CT).
