HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – The Northern Kentucky University softball team returns to Atlantic Sun Conference action this weekend when the Norse head to Jacksonville, Florida, for a three-game series against North Florida.
 
The series opens with a doubleheader on Friday beginning at 3 p.m. and concludes on Saturday with an 11 a.m. first pitch. Links to live stats for each game and the ASun.TV broadcast of Friday's doubleheader are available at NKUNorse.com.
 
Northern Kentucky University Norse (5-20, 1-5 A-Sun)
University of North Florida Ospreys (21-19, 3-6 A-Sun)
UNF Softball Complex (500) – Jacksonville, Fla.
April 3 – 3 p.m. (DH)
April 4 – 11 a.m.
Series History: North Florida leads, 4-2
First meeting: April 20, 2013 at UNF (UNF 3-2, 9-2)
Last meeting: March 23, 2014 at NKU (UNF 11-2)
 
#StartingNine – Tweetable notes about NKU Softball this weekend
 
Ashlynn Roberts threw a three-hit shutout to lead the Norse to a doubleheader split with Austin Peay on Wednesday. #Winning Roberts struck out a season-high five batters and did not allow a runner past first base after the first inning in picking up her third win of the season.
 
The Norse combined for three triples in Wednesday's doubleheader, marking their first three-base hits of the season. #SpeedKills Allie Conner hit the first three-bagger of the season in the second inning of Game 1, a four-run frame for the Norse. KC Straley matched the feat not once, but twice, first in the bottom of the fourth in Game 1 then again in the fifth inning of Game 2.
 
Conner also connected on her first home run of the season, a solo shot in the fifth inning of Game 2. #GoingDeep All told, Conner went 3-for-5 with two extra-base hits and a pair of RBIs. The senior left fielder has picked up an extra-base hit in each of her last three games dating back to Sunday's doubleheader against Lipscomb in which she went 1-for-2 with a two-run double in the series finale.
 
Eight of NKU's nine starters got at least one hit in both games of Wednesday's doubleheader. #EverybodyHits The performances included five multi-hit games, punctuated by a 3-for-4 game from Katelyn Roy in Game 1. Straley, Conner, Dani Devlin and Kate Bartolovich each had two-hit performances with Bartolovich's effort coming in Game 2.
 
Devlin has climbed to second in the A-Sun in slugging at .833 on the year. #PowerGame Devlin cominbed to go 3-for-6 with a home run in Wednesday's twin bill, improving her batting average to .394 to rank sixth in the league. Her .462 on-base percentage ranks seventh and her eight home runs rank sixth among A-Sun batters.
 
After going five games without a hit, Nicolette Hayes has picked up hits in each of her last three games #BackOnTrack The Norse second baseman had a seven-game hitting streak snapped with an 0-for-3 day at FGCU on March 21 but has picked up the offense since Sunday's finale against Lipscomb, going 4-for-8 with a pair of doubles and three RBIs over her last three games.
 
Paige McQueen's four-game hitting streak stands as the current high-water mark for the Norse. #Everyday McQueen has five hits in 11 at bats over her last four contests dating back to Sunday's opener against Lipscomb.
 
North Florida is riding a six-game losing streak after a 2-1 loss at No. 3 Florida on Wednesday. #Ospreys UNF's streak also included a weekend series against USC Upstate and a doubleheader against South Carolina, bringing the Ospreys to 21-19 overall and 3-6 in A-Sun play entering the Easter weekend series. Juniors Stacey McClelland and Shelby Duncan pace the offense, batting .407 and .392, respectively. McClelland has clubbed a team-high nine home runs and driven in 29 runs, while Duncan has added 11 doubles and scored 35 runs herself. Kayla Goff is one of the A-Sun's top pitchers, going 10-7 on the year with a 2.85 ERA and 76 strikeouts in 103.1 innings of action this year.
 
#UpNext, the Norse hit the road for midweek action next week at in-state rival Morehead State. First pitch for Wednesday's twin bill is set for 2 p.m. NKU then returns home for a three-game weekend series against Kennesaw State. The Norse will Strike Out Cancer in Saturday's doubleheader, while Sunday's game will be NKU's Bark in the Park day. First pitch each day from the Frank Ignatius Grein Softball Field is set for noon.