Game 1 box score |
Game 2 box score |
Photo gallery
HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. –
Emily Schwaeble became Northern Kentucky University's home-run champion on Saturday, clubbing her 32
nd-career long ball in Game 2 of an Atlantic Sun Conference softball doubleheader against Jacksonville on Saturday.
Schwaeble's bomb led off the fifth inning, coming off a 2-1 pitch from Jacksonville's Dale Tillman, allowing the Norse to climb within a run at 5-4. However, Jacksonville would grab one more insurance run in the sixth inning and claim the contest by a 6-4 final score. The Dolphins also won the opener in extra innings, 4-2, to improve their record to 29-10 overall and 10-3 in conference play.
NKU's runs in Game 1 came off back-to-back home runs in the bottom of the second inning by
Alexis VanHorn and
Dana Jarboe. For VanHorn, it was her third home run of the season and the second time she's been involved in back-to-back homers this season, accomplishing the feat earlier this season against Mercer along with
Tory Speakman. For Jarboe, it was her first career home run, a towering shot on a 1-1 pitch that crashed high off the scoreboard at the Frank Ignatius Grein Softball Field.
Jacksonville got the runs back in the top of the third inning when Victoria Brown answered with a two-run homer of her own.
The teams stayed level through seven innings as Schwaeble spun a fantastic start for the Norse, striking out 10 Dolphins in the affair. Jacksonville struck in the eighth, though, with back-to-back RBI hits from Karson Tuck and Meagan Balding to provide the winning edge.
A one-out walk to Schwaeble gave the Norse a chance with the tying run at the plate in the bottom of the eighth, but JU's Taylor Rossman bore down to strike out
Katelyn Roy and
Michelle Carson to close out the victory.
The Norse totaled five hits in the game by five different players.
Dee Dee Davis and
Rachel Kohlman also picked up hits in the contest.
The nightcap opened with five consecutive hits from the Dolphins (29-10, 10-3 A-Sun) off NKU starter
Alex Caudill, including a two-run double by Sarah Simon and a two-run home run by Ashley Simon. Schwaeble got a run back for the Norse with an RBI single to left field, scoring
KC Straley, who opened her three-hit game with a double to lead off the frame.
After a Tuck sacrifice fly extended the margin back to four runs in the third inning, the Norse fought back for two more runs in the fourth inning on RBI singles by Carson and Jarboe. Schwaeble's record-setting home run cut the lead to one run before Tuck came through again in the sixth with an insurance run, lacing an RBI single through the left side to plate Codi Kelly.
Again, the Norse had chances to tie the game, as Straley in the sixth and Schwaeble in the seventh each singled, but both were stranded on base to end their respective innings, and the Norse rally.
Along with Straley, Schwaeble also claimed three hits as the Norse matched their season high with 11 hits on the game. Six different Jacksonville players claimed multi-hit games, as the Dolphins amassed 16 hits in the victory. JU's Tillman got the win in the circle, improving to 8-2 on the season, while Rossman returned to notch her first save of the year.
The teams will conclude their three-game conference series on Sunday with an 11 a.m. first pitch.
