Katie Sullivan (right) approaches home plate after hitting her first career homer.
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Game 1 box score |
Game 2 box score
HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – The Northern Kentucky University softball team reached the 30-win mark Wednesday afternoon by sweeping a non-conference doubleheader from Ohio Dominican.
NKU posted a 10-3 win in the opener and completed the sweep with a 2-1 victory in the second game. The Norse improved to 30-15 overall, while Ohio Dominican fell to 28-23.
Emily Schwaeble hit a walk-off home run in the bottom of the eighth inning to give NKU the win in the nightcap. Schwaeble also pitched eight innings and collected her seventh victory of the season.
Ohio Dominican took a 1-0 lead into the bottom of the seventh inning, but
April Ehlers led off with a single and was sacrificed to second by
Gretchen Lorenz.
Jamie Raabe then lined a run-scoring double into the left-center field gap to even the score at 1-all.
Schwaeble ended the game with one out in the bottom of the eighth by sending a 1-0 pitch from Maria Staton over the center-field wall for her third home run of the season. It also gave NKU head coach
Kathy Stewart her 400th career win.
In the opener, Lorenz and
Katie Sullivan each drove in three runs to spark NKU's 10-3 win. Lorenz had a three-run double in the fourth inning as the Norse scored six times to build a 6-0 lead.
Rose Broderick ignited the six-run frame by leading off with a double off the top of the wall in left field, and she later added a single in the same inning.
After Ohio Dominican scored three times in the fifth inning, Sullivan launched a three-run homer in the bottom half of the frame to extend the Norse advantage to 10-3. Sullivan's homer, the first of her collegiate career, came on a 1-1 pitch and flew over the wall in center field.
Ehlers picked up her 14th win of the season and struck out seven batters.
NKU concludes the regular season Saturday at noon by hosting No. 20 Quincy in a Great Lakes Valley Conference doubleheader. The Lady Hawks lead the GLVC with a 19-4 record, while NKU is 18-7.
NKU is ranked No. 8 in the latest NCAA Division II Midwest Region poll. The Norse have already clinched a berth in the upcoming GLVC Tournament, which will be held May 7-9 at East Peoria, Ill.
