Kent State University
Northern Illinois
Kent State Travels to NIU for First Road MAC Softball Series
3/25/2021 1:32:00 PM | Softball
The Kent State softball team will look to continue swinging hot bats this weekend when it visits Northern Illinois for a four-game Mid-American Conference series.
The weekend weather forecast in DeKalb has caused a slight shift in the series schedule. A doubleheader will now be played on Friday, with first pitch at 3 p.m. ET. The teams are now scheduled for single games on Saturday at 2 p.m. ET and Sunday at 1 p.m. ET.
Follow the Action
The entire series will be streamed on subscription-based NIU All-Access. Game updates will also be posted on the @KentStSoftball Twitter account.
Last Time Out
Preseason MAC favorite Kent State won three of four games against Toledo this past weekend to begin conference play at the Diamond at Dix. The Golden Flashes erupted for 40 runs on 55 hits, including eight home runs, in the series. The hitting clinic was a team effort, as five players had at least five hits, three hit multiple home runs and four recorded at least seven RBIs. Six Flashes reached base in all four games.
Senior Alexis Taube was named MAC Player of the Week for her stellar hitting against the Rockets. Taube batted .692 with nine hits, two home runs, seven RBIs and five runs scored. She had multiple hits and scored in every game of the series, which began with a career game that included three hits, two home runs and five RBIs in Saturday's opener. Junior Brooklyn Whitt had a pair of four-hit games and led Kent State with a .733 hitting percentage and seven runs scored. Senior Brenna Brownfield homered twice and had a team-high 10 RBIs. Junior Megan Turner also homered twice, including a walk-off grand slam on Saturday, and drove in seven runs. Senior Carlee Selle hit two doubles and was the final Flash with seven RBIs.
Freshman Jessica LeBeau earned two victories in the circle and tossed her second shutout of the season in the series finale. LeBeau had 16 strikeouts in 13.0 innings. Sophomore Gabbie Sherman earned her first collegiate victory on Saturday and then threw a career-high nine innings in Sunday's opener.
Scouting Northern Illinois
The Huskies (6-12, 1-3 MAC) have lost five of their last six games after being shut out for the first time this season by Illinois State on Wednesday. Despite outscoring Ohio, 22-19, Northern Illinois went just 1-3 during the opening weekend of the MAC season. The Huskies won the series finale, 12-2, scoring more than six runs for the first time this season.
On the season, NIU has a .235 team batting average and scores 3.44 runs per game. Katie Keller leads the offense with a .385 batting average, nine doubles, three home runs and 12 RBIs. Keller has a hit in 16 of 18 games, and her .769 slugging percentage is the third highest in the MAC. Carley Goetschius is hitting .353 and led the Huskies with five hits and five RBIs in the series at Ohio. NIU's pitching staff has a 4.04 earned run average, which ranks fourth in the conference. Claire Norred (2-8) has seen the bulk of the work in the circle, throwing 56.1 innings with a 3.60 ERA and 40 strikeouts.
Series History
Kent State is 25-32 all-time against Northern Illinois, but this will be the first meeting since 2017, when the teams split four games. The Golden Flashes won the opening game of a three-game series at the Diamond at Dix, 6-5, on a walk-off double by Bailey Brownfield in the bottom of the eighth inning. The Huskies took the final two games of the series, 7-6 and 8-6, to win the regular season series. Kent State scored six runs in the top of the third inning en route to a 9-3 victory in the MAC Tournament consolation bracket final. This was the Flashes' first of three wins on the day to capture the tournament championship. Kent State redshirt seniors Kristyn Eckl and Olivia Sborlini are the only student-athletes on either team's roster that have played against the opposing team.
On Deck for the Flashes
Kent State will return to the Diamond at Dix for a four-game MAC series against Ohio, scheduled for April 2-4.
