HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – Standing between a pair of Atlantic Sun Conference home weekends, the Northern Kentucky University softball team steps off campus and out of conference for a road doubleheader at Austin Peay on Thursday. First pitch for Game 1 at Cheryl Holt Field is set for noon.
NKU is looking to bounce back from a three-game sweep at the hands of Kennesaw State over the weekend. The Norse dropped both ends of Saturday's doubleheader by scores of 17-7 and 9-1 before falling in Sunday's finale, 10-0. The Norse now stand 2-17 overall on the season.
Thursday's games will be the first between NKU and Austin Peay. Live stats for the games will be available at nkunorse.com.
A WORD ABOUT AUSTIN PEAY: The Lady Govs stand at 9-14 on the year after dropping both ends of a doubleheader against Ohio Valley Conference foe SIU Edwardsville, with Thursday's doubleheader opening a six-game home stand for APSU. Lauren de Castro leads the Lady Govs both at the plate and in the circle. She holds a team-best .379 batting average, including seven extra-base hits, and has scored 11 runs. Mel Pavel had chipped in with 16 RBIs on the year as well. As a pitcher, de Castro is 6-5 on the year with a 4.13 ERA. She has struck out 33 batters in 59.1 innings of work.
2-3 PUNCH: KC Straley and
Dee Dee Davis were a driving force behind the Norse offense last week, combining to post a .394 (13-for-33) batting average while scoring eight runs and driving in four more. Since moving to the 2- and 3-spot in the lineup, respectively, both ladies have posted a .333 batting average.
STOLEN BASES PILING UP: Straley is still speeding around the base paths, having racked up another three stolen bases last week to put her season total to eight. The junior has already equaled her 2013 total and ranks seventh among A-Sun base runners in the category.
SLUGGING AWAY: Davis still ranks among the top sluggers in the Atlantic Sun Conference, as her .679 slugging percentage ranks sixth in the league. Davis has posted nine extra-base hits in her 18 knocks on the season, including a team-best five home runs, which rank ninth in the league.
VERSUS THE OVC: NKU holds a 27-53-1 overall record against teams from the Ohio Valley Conference entering this weekend. Their only result so far this season came in a season-opening 9-0 loss to Jacksonville State (Ala.) on Feb. 7, in Starkville, Miss. In addition to Austin Peay, the Norse will also play in-state OVC foes Eastern Kentucky (April 22) and Morehead State (April 30) at home.
