FT. MYERS, Fla. – Alex Caudill spun a seven-hit gem for the Northern Kentucky University softball team to claim a 2-0 victory over Florida Gulf Coast and salvage a doubleheader split in Atlantic Sun Conference play on Saturday afternoon.
 
Caudill (2-3) gave up just one extra base hit, walked one batter and struck out another to push the Norse to 4-15 on the year and 1-1 in A-Sun play.
 
The Norse did their damage in the fifth inning against FGCU's Shelby Morgan. Paige McQueen led off the inning with a double, one of three Norse hits on the contest, and came in to score when Nicolette Hayes reached on a throwing error from the Eagles first baseman. After a sacrifice bunt from Allie Conner to move Hayes into scoring position, Devlin added to the Norse lead with an RBI single through the right side to push the Norse to the final score.
 
Caudill was cool under pressure, pitching out of situations with runners in scoring position in the fifth and sixth innings before setting down the Eagles in order in the seventh to secure the victory. Katelyn Roy added a double in the second inning of the contest.
 
For NKU, it was the team's second shutout in the Division I era, and the first since Emily Schwaeble's two-hit blanking of East Tennessee State on April 14, 2013.
 
The win took some of the sting out of a 9-1 defeat in the opener for the Norse.
 
Both teams had opportunities in the first inning, loading the bases in their respective halves. However, it was FGCU that cashed in the opportunity, manufacturing a run on a Bri McGuire sacrifice fly to take the early advantage. The Eagles added two more in the second on an Alexis Ross two-run single.
 
The Norse scratched a run across in the top of the third inning after Sydney Ferrante led things off with an infield single. Devlin and Roy each reached on FGCU errors, allowing Ferrante to come around and cut the Eagle lead to 3-1.
 
FGCU continued its offensive onslaught, scoring two more runs in the third on back-to-back RBI singles from Kelsey Huff and Makenzie McAvoy and picked up four more in the fifth without recording an out to reach the final score.
 
Devlin picked up two of NKU's four hits on the game and Kate Bartolovich added a single in the fifth to extend her hitting streak to eight games before seeing it snapped in the nightcap. For FGCU, Huff went 3-for-3 and scored three runs, while Ross was 2-for-3 with a pair of RBIs. Ashley Dobson (9-3) struck out six Norse in five innings while surrendering an unearned run to get the win for FGCU.
 
The Norse will go for the series win on Sunday when the teams meet in the rubber match of their three-game conference series. First pitch from the FGCU Softball Complex is set for noon, with live stats links available at NKUNorse.com.