MT. PLEASANT — The Central Michigan softball team returned from their nearly month-long southern swing of games to play their first Mid-American Conference game and home opener of the 2024 season, dropping a 4-0 decision to Northern Illinois on Friday afternoon.
The game was scoreless into the fifth inning, a pitching duel between CMU’s Grace Lehto and NIU’s Danielle Lewis.
The Huskies got on the board with a sacrifice fly by Ellis Erickson to take a 1-0 lead in the fifth.
After the Chippewas loaded the bases in the bottom of the fifth but could not scratch a tying run across the plate, Northern Illinois tacked on three insurance runs in the sixth inning. Stewart and Avery Carnahan led off the inning with back-to-back doubles, chasing Lehto from the game.
The Huskies out-hit the Chippewas 9-5 in the game. Carly Sleeman and Lucy Cronin each reached base twice for Central Michigan.
Stewart struck out seven batters over her seven scoreless innings of work. Lehto was tagged for three runs over 5+ innings of work in suffering the loss.
The Chippewas and Huskies will conclude their weekend series with a doubleheader at Margo Jonker Stadium on Saturday. The first game starts at 1:00.