Ashley Gates hit her third home run of the season to lead the Norse to a 6-1 win and a doubleheader sweep of Rockhurst on Saturday.
Game 1 box score |
Game 2 box score
KANSAS CITY, Mo. –
Kari Lang and
Ashley Gates each hit home runs to help lift the Northern Kentucky University softball team to a doubleheader sweep of Rockhurst to open Great Lakes Valley Conference play on Saturday.
NKU took Game 1 by a 9-5 final before completing the sweep with a 6-1 victory in the nightcap. The wins pushed the Norse to 9-7 overall and 2-0 in the GLVC.
NKU jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the opener before Rockhurst (5-9, 0-2 GLVC) came back with two runs in the fifth inning. The Norse answered with two more in the sixth and four big insurance in the seventh inning to seal the victory.
Lang was 2-for-4 in the opener and took a 3-1 pitch opposite field in the top of the second inning for her first collegiate home run.
Gretchen Lorenz was also 2-for-4 while
Dee Dee Davis added a two-run double.
April Ehlers (5-4) got the win in the circle, fanning 11 batters over six innings while allowing two runs on six hits.
Game 2 saw
Chelsie Roy (3-1) scatter eight hits and allow just one run to help the Norse take a 6-1 victory. Gates' leadoff home run in the fourth inning, her third of the season, sparked a three-run inning that was capped off by a
Jessica Farris two-run triple. Farris finished the game 3-for-4.
Emily Schwaeble also had a two-run single in the contest.
The Norse round out their 10-day road trip with a conference doubleheader at Quincy on Sunday. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. Eastern.
