HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – Zahrya McFarland's game-tying home run capped a 3-for-4 effort in the second game of Saturday's softball doubleheader between Northern Kentucky and Oakland, but it was the Golden Grizzlies coming out on top in a sweep, winning by scores of 8-2 and 6-3.
With the result, NKU falls to 8-20 overall and 1-2 in Horizon League play.
Game 1 Dani Devlin picked up a pair of hits to lead the Norse offense in the opener, but Oakland (6-18, 2-1 Horizon) got hits early and often, claiming an 8-2 win to start the day.
Charlie Nolen was pitch-efficient in the early going for the Norse, needing just four pitches in the first and nine more in the second to remain scoreless. Oakland struck first with a pair of runs in the third inning, capped by a solo home run from Brittney Miller.
Oakland scored one more in the fourth inning and three in the sixth inning before the Norse got on the board on an RBI double by Devlin to score Hayes, who also doubled in the inning.
Each team got runs in the seventh as well, with Ferrante bringing in
Alina Maher on a two-out RBI single to center field.
Sarah Hartley and Lyndsay Hill each had two hits and drove in two runs in the contest for Oakland. The win went to Kaley Waalkes (3-6), who struck out six Norse in the complete-game effort. Nolen (3-9) took the loss in the start for NKU.
Game 2 Hayes and Devlin got the offense started for the Norse again in Game 2, this time in the first inning as Hayes led off with a single, stole second and came home on Devlin's RBI single up the middle as NKU claimed the early lead.
Oakland came back with a run in the top of the second inning before McFarland plated her first run of the day in the third inning, scoring on a wild pitch after leading off the frame with a double down the right-field line.
Oakland claimed a 3-2 lead in the top of the fifth inning when Waalkes laced a double to right-center field to score a pair of runs. The lead held as Oakland pitcher Laura Pond retired seven-straight batters through the seventh inning before McFarland sent a laser-shot over the left-field wall with two outs to tie things up at 3-3 and send the game into extras.
Alyssa Enrique, on in relief of
Jordan Harbacek, proceeded to throw six scoreless innings for the Norse until a double and an error set up Hartley's three-run homer in the top of the 13
th inning. NKU could not find the answer in the bottom half, falling by a 6-3 final score.
Devlin and McFarland each had three of NKU's nine hits on the game, while Hayes also had a two-hit game. Enrique (0-1) took the hard-luck loss after a strong showing. The win went to Haley Zemmer (3-8) who scattered three hits and struck out four in 5.2 innings of relief.
The Norse go on the road and out of conference play on Tuesday for a doubleheader at Eastern Kentucky. First pitch is set for 2 p.m. with links to live stats available at NKUNorse.com.
