Sydney Heath hits the ball during the double header against Eastern at Margo Jonker Stadium on Saturday, April 30, 3016.
Currently positioned as the last team to qualify for the Mid-American Conference Tournament, the Central Michigan softball team split a doubleheader at Northern Illinois on Friday in its last series of the regular season.
Behind the arm of junior Rachael Knapp, the Chippewas (23-25, 10-11-1 MAC) took game one 5-4, but came up short in game two. CMU fell 8-3 after a late scoring barrage by the Huskies (33-17, 13-9 MAC), who clinched their first MAC West title since 2000.