Weekend notes (PDF) |
A-Sun weekend release (PDF)
HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – The Northern Kentucky University softball team opens the Frank Ignatius Grein Softball Field for the first time this season when the Norse welcome in Atlantic Sun Conference foe Mercer for a three-game series this weekend.
The Norse return home still looking for their first A-Sun victory after having been swept in a three-game set at USC Upstate. NKU now stands at 6-15 overall and 0-3 in A-Sun play. Saturday's doubleheader is set to begin at noon with Sunday's single game scheduled for an 11 a.m. first pitch. All three games of this weekend's series will be webcast on ASun.TV and live stats will be available for all contests at nkunorse.com.
The Bears enter this weekend as a familiar foe, as the teams met in Macon, Ga., at the Mercer Bears Classic, with Mercer coming out victorious by a 13-5 score.
A WORD ABOUT MERCER: The Bears have been up and down since the Norse left Macon and the Bears Classic, as Mercer followed the tournament with a three-game sweep of East Tennessee State to open A-Sun play before dropping both ends of a midweek conference doubleheader at Kennesaw State. Mercer now stands 14-14 on the season and 3-2 in league play.
McKenzie Woody still stands at the teams top offensive threat, boasting a .404 batting average, 22 runs scored and 11 stolen bases. Meanwhile, Krista Kennedy has bolstered her .263 batting average with 13 extra-base hits, including seven home runs, and driven in 26 runs on the year.
In the circle, Julia Rice leads the Bears with a 7-5 record and a 2.99 earned run average while walking 29 and striking out 31 in 91.1 innings of work.
LAST TIME AGAINST MERCER: Emily Schwaeble muscled a grand slam to punctuate a five-run second inning for the Norse, but Mercer would come back swinging to claim a 13-5 victory over the Norse at the Mercer Bears Classic on March 1. The Norse managed seven hits, including a 2-for-3 performance by
Katelyn Roy.
SCHWAEBLE SWINGING FOR THE RECORD BOOKS: Senior pitcher and outfielder
Emily Schwaeble is on the verge of history, standing currently with 30 career home runs, just one short of tying NKU's career record in the category, set by Ashley Gates in 2011. Should she eclipse the mark, she would become the third player in five seasons to emerge as NKU's new home run champion. Before Gates set the record in 2011, Rose Broderick set the bar with her 14th career home run in 2009. Krista Eldridge's career total of 13 stood as the high-water mark for eight years after she set the bar in 2002.
