Emily Schwaeble connects on a three-run homer in the first game against Quincy.
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Game 1 box score |
Game 2 box score
HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. –
Emily Schwaeble combined with
Chelsie Roy on a three-hit shutout as the Northern Kentucky University softball team posted a 6-0 win against No. 20 Quincy on Saturday.
Schwaeble allowed just one hit and struck out nine batters in six innings of work to pick up her eighth victory of the season. The freshman from Colerain High School in Cincinnati also drove in a pair of runs at the plate as NKU took the second game of the doubleheader to gain a split against the nationally ranked Lady Hawks.
In the opener, Quincy pulled out a 4-3 win against the Norse.
NKU is 31-16 overall, 19-8 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference. Quincy is 35-11 overall, 20-5 in the GLVC.
NKU plated five runs in the first inning of the second game and was never threatened. Schwaeble started the scoring with a two-run single that drove in
Jessica Farris and
Stephanie West. NKU's
Gretchen Lorenz also added a two-run single in the first inning.
Schwaeble, meanwhile, allowed just a third-inning single to Monica Gray en route to the win. Roy took over in the seventh inning and surrendered two hits but worked out of trouble to preserve the shutout.
In the first game, NKU battled back from an early 3-0 deficit to tie the contest at 3-all when Schwaeble hit a three-run homer off Quincy ace Torie Bunzell in the third inning. It was the fourth home run of the season for Schwaeble, who launched a high drive over the wall in left field to tie the score.
It also marked just the second home run that Bunzell has allowed all season.
Quincy, however, regained the lead for good in the fourth inning on an RBI single by Carla Passini. Bunzell finished with 11 strikeouts and allowed just two hits to improve to 24-4 this season.
NKU pitcher
April Ehlers struck out 13 batters and scattered four hits in the loss.
NKU begins play at the GLVC Tournament this Friday at East Peoria, Ill. Pairings will be announced Sunday. The Norse are the defending GLVC Tournament champions.
NKU is currently ranked eighth in the NCAA Division II Midwest Region poll. Quincy entered Saturday's doubleheader ranked No. 6 in the Midwest Region.
