Game 1 box score |
Game 2 box score |
Photo gallery
HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – The Northern Kentucky University softball team got home runs from
Alexis VanHorn,
Tory Speakman and
Kaylin Steinmetz to power an 8-5 victory over East Tennessee State, closing out a sweep in Saturday's Atlantic Sun Conference doubleheader at the Frank Ignatius Grein Softball Field.
NKU (9-30, 3-14 A-Sun) claimed a 3-2 victory in Game 1 of the day. The Norse got themselves on the board in the third inning of the opener as
Dee Dee Davis opened her two-hit game with an RBI double to the wall in center field, scoring
KC Straley, who also had two hits in the game as well as a stolen base.
ETSU (10-28, 0-18 A-Sun) answered quickly, though, with a Sam Lower RBI triple followed by a run-scoring single by Alex Everett to put the Buccaneers ahead in the top of the fourth inning.
That score would hold until the bottom of the seventh when Straley reached on a one-out single. Davis drew a walk to set up
Natalie Papi's game-tying single to centerfield. The Bucs then intentionally walked
Emily Schwaeble to load the bases to bring up VanHorn, who was hit by a 3-2 pitch for the walk-off victory.
Schwaeble got the win in the circle to improve her record to 3-16 on the season. The senior allowed two runs on six hits while striking out five batters.
Game 2 opened in a most unusual way, with the teams combining for 11 runs before the first three outs were recorded on either side. ETSU utilized a Norse throwing error in the top of the first inning to plate five runs, punctuated by a three-run home run by Casey Horner.
The Norse responded in kind in the bottom of the inning, putting up six runs of their own. Papi lifted a two-run double to left field, scoring Straley and Davis, who walked and doubled, respectively, to open the inning. VanHorn then crushed her fourth home run of the season to score two more. After a
Michelle Carson line out,
Katelyn Roy was dotted by an 0-1 pitch before Speakman connected on the very next pitch thrown for her third home run of the year.
Steinmetz played add-on in the fifth inning with a two-run home run that bounced off the top of the left-field fence and over for her third long-ball of the season.
Alex Caudill (1-3) got her first win of the season in the circle, giving up two runs on three hits and striking out two batters in 6.1 innings of relief work.
Davis extended her hitting streak to a team-best eight games and has hit nine doubles in her last 10 games. VanHorn also had a two-hit game as the Norse pounded out nine hits total.
NKU and ETSU will wrap up their three-game series on Sunday with an 11 a.m. first pitch.
