Game 1 box score | Game 2 box score
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Jacksonville University softball team combined for 26 hits across two games to pick up a pair of wins over Northern Kentucky University in Saturday's Atlantic Sun Conference doubleheader.
Jacksonville scored 10 unanswered runs to take a 10-2 victory in Game 1, and continued to pour on the offense in an 8-1 win in Game 2. With the losses, NKU falls to 1-12 on the season and 0-2 in A-Sun play.
Dee Dee Davis launched a two-run home run over the centerfield wall to open the scoring in Game 1. Mandi McQueen took a walk to leadoff the game and came around on the blast, the fourth of the year for Davis.
KC Straley had a 1-for-3 game, a feat which she repeated in the nightcap to extend her on-base streak to 11 games.
Jacksonville (10-10, 2-3 A-Sun) leveled the game at 2-2 on a Karson Tuck RBI double and a run-scoring groundout by Emily Sanchez. The game remained tied until the fourth inning, when the Dolphins erupted for six runs, keyed by two-run hits by Stephanie Frances and Codi Kelly.
In the fifth inning, Cecile Gomez's solo home run followed by a sacrifice fly from Frances forced the eight-run rule and ended the game.
Eight of the nine Dolphins' starters collected at least one base hit, with Kelly and Gomez each posting two-hit games. In the circle, the win went to Victoria Brown, who pitched 4.1 innings of relief, scattering three hits and striking out four to move to 4-5 on the season. Paige McQueen gave up five earned runs on seven hits to take the loss for NKU, falling to 1-3 on the year.
A bases-loaded double by Lexie Ballard opened the scoring for Jacksonville in the second inning in Game 2 and the Dolphins never looked back, plating four runs in the second and two more in the third to race out to a 6-0 lead. The Norse got back in the scoring column in the fourth inning when Dana Jarboe led off the frame with a single. Jarboe advanced to second base on a passed ball and scored on a Katelyn Roy RBI single, extending Roy's hitting streak to four games.
Jacksonville scored runs in the fourth and fifth innings to make it an 8-1 final score.
Alex Caudill (0-6) took the loss for the Norse, giving up four runs in just over an inning of work. Taylor Rossman went the distance for Jacksonville to pick up her first win of the season, striking out nine Norse batters in the process.
Six JU batters had multi-hit games in the late game as the Dolphins combined for 16 hits. Ballard went 3-for-4 with two doubles and four RBI, while Sanchez and Frances each claimed three-hit days to lead the JU offense.
The teams conclude the three-game series with a 1 p.m. first pitch on Sunday. Live stat links will be available on nkunorse.com.
