MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Northern Kentucky jumped out early and rallied late to defeat Alabama State, 8-6, on Sunday afternoon to give the Norse their first series victory of the year.
Sydney Ferrante and
Dani Devlin delivered for the Norse, tallying two RBIs each.
Northern Kentucky (3-12) wasted no time getting on the board, posting three runs in the first. Ferrante reached on a fielding error by Alabama State's third baseman. Devlin then singled to move Ferrante to second. RBI singles from
Kate Bartolovich,
Nicolette Hayes and
Ashlynn Roberts plated the three runs.
Alabama State (6-19) got one of the runs back in the bottom half of the inning. Valerie Centeno singled up the middle with one out and stole second to put a runner in scoring position for Carly Evans, who delivered an RBI single to left field.
Consecutive two-run innings from the Hornets erased the Norse lead and put them in a two-run hole through three frames. The first run of the second inning came courtesy of a Norse error and Centeno doubled-home the other run. Perri Hindi delivered a two-RBI single in the third to push ASU in front, 5-3.
The Norse then exploded for four runs in the top of the fifth to regain the advantage.
Alina Maher walked to open the inning and Allie Connor reached on a throwing error from third. Ferrante knocked in the first run on a single to right field. Her base knock was followed by Devlin's two-run double to centerfield to push the Norse back in front.
Katelyn Roy followed with a double of her own to extend NKU's lead to two, 7-5.
An insurance run was added in NKU's next at-bat to push the score to 8-5. Roberts' single was followed by consecutive walks from Maher and Connor to load the bags for Ferrante. The freshman delivered the run on a fielder's choice.
Centeno sacrificed home another run for ASU in the bottom of the sixth, cutting NKU's advantage to two, 8-6.
Roberts settled in on the mound and slammed the door shut in the seventh, providing NKU with the series-clinching win.
Alex Caudill pitched the first 2.2 innings, allowing three runs on seven hits. Roberts came in to toss the final 4.1 innings and surrendered just one earned run to improve her record to 2-5 on the year.
Melissa Christman suffered the loss for Alabama State, falling to 2-6 on the season.
NKU has won three of its last five games, with all three coming on the road. A doubleheader scheduled for Tuesday at 2 p.m., will open the home portion of the schedule for the Norse at the Frank Ignatius Grein Softball Field.
