Northern Kentucky University Athletics

NKU-UMSL box score | Photo gallery

NKU-Indianapolis box score | Photo gallery

EAST PEORIA, Ill. - A pair of outstanding pitching performances led the Northern Kentucky University softball team to wins in the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament on Friday.

The Norse went on a hit parade behind a 12-strikeout performance from Emily Schwaeble to take a 9-1 win over Missouri-St. Louis in the opener and used big home runs from Gretchen Lorenz and Jamie Raabe to post a 3-1 victory over Indianapolis in the nightcap.

NKU (33-16) advances in the winners' bracket of the double-elimination tournament to face Lewis on Saturday. First pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m. Eastern.

Seven of the nine NKU starters claimed hits in the opening matchup against UMSL (26-21), led by Jessica Farris, who went 2-for-3 on the day, including a leadoff single in the bottom of the first inning. Farris came around on a Schwaeble RBI-single to plate the first run of the game before the Norse came back with two more in the frame to edge out to an early 3-0 lead.

The Norse would then explode for six runs in the fourth inning, including back-to-back home runs from Ashley Gates and April Ehlers, to put the game out of reach.

Schwaeble (9-1) helped her own cause, going 2-for-3 with a pair of RBI and two runs score. In the circle she was unstoppable, surrendering just one unearned run on four hits to seal the victory.

NKU put the runs up early once again in the nightcap against Indianapolis (35-14) as Lorenz sent her second home run of the season over the left field wall in the top of the second inning to score Ehlers, who reached on an error earlier in the frame.

After Audry Ernst cut the deficit in half in the bottom of the stanza with her first career home run, a solo shot to center field, the NKU defense bore down, helping Ehlers (15-11) coast to a three-hit performance. The junior fanned 11 batters in the win.

Raabe came up big in the top of the seventh with an insurance run, pushing an 0-2 pitch just to the left of the scoreboard for her first career round-tripper.

NKU is the defending GLVC champions and looking for its third conference championship in program history.