Katelyn Roy hits the first of her two home runs in a 12-9 loss to Illinois Springfield on Saturday.
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EAST PEORIA, Ill. – A late surge by the University of Illinois Springfield softball team put a comeback bid out of reach for Northern Kentucky University, which was eliminated from the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament after a 12-9 loss in the team's second elimination game of the day.
The loss puts the Norse at 35-19 on the season. NKU will now await selection to the NCAA Midwest Regional tournament. NKU entered the weekend as the No. 4 ranked team in the Midwest region and is expected to claim an at-large berth to the tournament for the third consecutive season.
The Norse amassed 16 hits in the contest, led by
Michelle Carson and
Natalie Papi, who each went 3-4 with a home run.
Kaylin Steinmetz,
Kari Lang,
Dee Dee Davis and
Katelyn Roy each had two-hit games.
The second inning saw matching two-run home runs for the teams, first for the Prairie Stars' Jessica Yocum, who hit a low laser shot to straightaway centerfield for her first homer of the season. Roy answered for the Norse in the bottom of the inning with her first of two bombs on the game. The freshman hit a total of three home runs on the day, including one in NKU's earlier game against Bellarmine, and now has five on the season.
Roy's second home run gave the Norse the lead in the fourth inning and Steinmetz added a solo shot to extend the advantage to 4-2. Steinmetz now has 23 home runs on the season and is tied for the lead in that category among all Division II batters.
After UIS (33-19) plated two more in the top of the fifth to tie the game back up,
Natalie Papi hit a towering shot over the wall in left-center field to give NKU a 5-4 lead, notching home run number five for Papi.
The Prairie Stars were not to be denied, however, retaking the lead for good with a four-spot in the sixth inning, keyed by a two-run home run by Tina Buck. UIS would add four more in the top of the seventh to create what would be an insurmountable lead.
Carson added a three-run homer with two outs in the bottom of the seventh for the Norse. Carson hit two home runs in the tournament, driving in seven runs on those two swings of the bat.
