HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – The Northern Kentucky University softball team had another home run barrage, seeing long balls from Katelyn Roy, Dani Devlin, Ashley Rains and Kate Bartolovich, but the Norse could not hold on in a doubleheader sweep at the hands of Butler on Wednesday afternoon.
 
The Norse (3-14) cranked out 13 hits in the opener and scored eight runs in the first three innings, but the Bulldogs (12-10) came back with 11 unanswered runs to take a 13-8 win in the opener. In the nightcap, Butler scored nine runs in the first inning en route to an 11-3 victory.
 
Each NKU starter claimed at least one hit in Game 1 with Devlin going 3-for-4 on the day and Roy going 2-for-4, each with a home run and a double. Ashlynn Roberts also had a two-hit game in support of her efforts in the circle.
 
Roy got the scoring started after back-to-back bloop singles from Sydney Ferrante and Devlin in the bottom of the first. Roy launched a three-run bomb over the center field wall to give the Norse an early advantage.  After Krosley Ogden cut the Norse lead with an RBI single in the second, Devlin claimed a two-run shot of her own in the frame to extend the Norse lead to 5-1.
 
After Butler again manufactured a run in the top of the third inning, the Norse tacked on three more runs after Rains got her first collegiate hit, a home run to left-center field, and Ferrante added a sacrifice fly to make it an 8-2 ball game.
 
Butler cut deeply into the Norse lead in the fourth, plating four runs on back-to-back doubles from Chelsea Norwood and Brandyce Sallee. Kristen Boros gave the Bulldogs the lead with RBI singles in the fifth and seventh innings, the latter sparking a six-run rally for the Bulldogs to reach the final score.
 
The Bulldogs combined for 24 hits on the game, including a 4-for-5 effort from Maria Leichty. Sarah Gronowski, Boros, Norwood and Audrey Hiner each had three hits in the contest. Mikeila Boroff (3-4) got the win in relief for Butler, scattering three hits over four innings of shutout softball.
 
A nine-run opening inning set the tone for the Bulldogs in Game 2. Norwood got the scoring started with a two-run double, followed by run-scoring hits by Alyssa Lach, Leichty and Ogden and a three-run double by Alex Kotter to put the game out of reach early.
 
NKU was able to get on the board in the second inning after a Paige McQueen groundout in the bottom of the second to score Nicolette Hayes, who reached on an error to begin the frame.
 
Butler was able to add another run in the top of the third when Gronowski led off with a bunt single, stole second and third before coming home on a fielding error to extend the lead to 10-1.
 
An infield single by Taylor Zuberer in the bottom of the fifth inning set up a two-run dinger for Bartolovich, her third of the season, making it 10-3 to keep the Norse in the game.
 
Lach doubled in a run in the sixth inning, and the Norse were unable to answer as Roberts was stranded after a leadoff double.
 
Hayes and Bartolovich each extended their team-leading hitting streaks to seven games as six different Norse each claimed a hit in the nightcap. Kelley Benhase had a solid outing in the circle, giving up a pair of earned runs on four hits and striking out four batters in 5.1 innings of relief work.
 
The Norse now head to Ft. Myers, Florida, for a three-game series at Florida Gulf Coast to open Atlantic Sun Conference play. First pitch for Saturday's doubleheader is set for 2 p.m., followed by a noon start on Sunday for a single game to wrap up the series.