Attack.

That’s what the NIU softball team plans to do when it steps up to the plate in a four-game home stand over the weekend.

“If you attack and you’re aggressive, then you learn how to battle and just get out there and play,” said NIU head coach Lindsay Chouinard. “That’s what it’s all about. You can’t just wait for something to happen; you have to go out there and make it happen.”

The Huskies will finish up an eight-game home stretch today when they open conference play with a doubleheader against Akron. The first pitch is set for 1 p.m. followed by the second game.

NIU (5-17) will then turn its focus to the MAC’s Ohio Bobcats, who will square off against the Huskies at 2 p.m. Saturday and again at 1 p.m. Sunday.

“[The team’s] big goal at the beginning of the year is to do well in conference,” Chouinard said. “I wouldn’t say there’s more pressure, but we need to focus on getting better every day.”

NIU enters its first conference game after a split doubleheader with Valparaiso earlier in the week. Despite a search of consistency, the Huskies took the first game with a 5-3 win but then dropped the second 13-1. In the loss, NIU gave up seven runs in the game’s first three innings and another four in the game’s fourth inning.

Akron (17-10) comes to DeKalb after a home sweep of Morehead State. The Zips came from behind in both games to win 5-2 and 8-4 against the Eagles.

Akron boasted big bats against Morehead as freshman Allison Dorr stepped up the plate to hit two homeruns in as many at bats. The homeruns were the first of her career and resulted in five RBIs. Along with the freshman, senior Julie Boyes went a perfect 4-4 with a homerun and four RBIs to add to the team’s victories.

“Obviously we have scouting reports, and we’re looking at what they’ve done and what they’ve had success with, but we just have to pitch to our strengths [against big hitters],” Chouinard said. “More than anything else, we have to execute from the mound, and if we do that, we should be fine.”

Ohio (8-11) enters the weekend brawl after splitting a doubleheader with Wright State on their home field. The Bobcats dropped the first game 3-6 but then came back to hold onto a 12-11 victory in the second. Prior to the Wright State match-ups, Ohio had not played in over two weeks but showed no signs of it at the plate. The Bobcats produced 20 hits between the games with five sailing over the fence for homeruns.

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