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Huskies Hit The Road For A Pair Of Games With Western Michigan

Michelle Nendza leads the way for the Huskie offense



Michelle Nendza's six homers puts her in a three-way tie for the MAC lead.

April 3, 2008

Overall Stats Get Acrobat Reader

Conference Stats Get Acrobat Reader

DeKALB, Ill. - The Northern Illinois softball team will travel to Kalamazoo, Mich. to face Mid-American Conference foe Western Michigan (9-8, 1-1) this weekend. The Huskies (5-15, 0-2) and Broncos will play on Saturday, April 5 at 1 p.m. CT and Sunday, April 6 at 12 p.m. at Fran Ebert Field.

Washed Away

The Huskies have had 17 of their 33 games cancelled so far this season, making up only four with plans to make up a fifth on Tuesday, April 29 against Illinois State in Normal, Ill. at 6 p.m. With nearly half of their season washed away, the Huskies have spent countless hours practicing and they look forward to getting on the field whenever the opportunity presents itself.

"With a higher focus and competitive spirit, these weekend games will set the tone for the rest of this season," said NIU head coach Lindsay Chouinard. "The girls are getting after it in practice and are excited to get out there and compete."

Leaders

On offense, the Huskies are led by senior third baseman Michelle Nendza (Palos Park, Ill./Lemont Mt. Assisi). Nendza leads NIU in batting average (.370), hits (20), runs (9), home runs (6) and runs batted in (14). Nendza is also in a three-way tie for the MAC lead in home runs and her .741 slugging percentage is tops in the conference. Junior outfielder Jenna Roberts (Verona, Wis./West) has a team-high seven stolen bases in 11 attempts and a team second-best 18 hits and seven runs.

On the mound, NIU is led by sophomore Kate Greenough (Portland, Ore./David Douglas), who has a team-best 3.69 earned run average and a 3-7 record. Greenough has a team-high 53.2 innings pitched, four complete games and 39 strike outs. Senior Taryn Hagemann (Rochelle, Ill./Rochelle) has a team-low .233 opponent batting average and ranks second with 34 strike outs in 37.1 frames.

NIU's Record vs. Western Michigan

Western Michigan leads the all-time series, 27-22. The Huskies came out victorious in the last match-up with the Broncos, 7-0, at Mary M. Bell Field last season on April 15.

-NIU-