HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – Northern Kentucky softball will have a quick turnaround during one of its busiest weeks of the season, which sees the Norse play three series within an eight-day span. The second three-game set of the stretch will be on Tuesday and Wednesday, April 11-12, when NKU hosts Horizon League foe Youngstown State. The series begins with a Tuesday doubleheader at 2 p.m. ET, while the series concludes on Wednesday with a 2 p.m. single game. Both games on Tuesday will be part of NKU's ESPN3 spring broadcast schedule, with Brady Laber on the call. Fans can stream the games on computers, tablets and smart phones through WatchESPN and the ESPN App.
  
LAST TIME OUT: The Norse returned to Michigan to take on Detroit Mercy, going 1-2 in the series against the Titans. NKU claimed a 6-2 win in the series opener, bolstered by a three-run homer from Kara Meter in the second inning. The Titans posted a come-from-behind victory in game two of Saturday's doubleheader, plating four runs in the sixth to catapult the team to a 6-5 victory. UDM claimed the series on Sunday with a high-powered offensive showing, taking down the Norse 10-5.
 
SCOUTING YOUNGSTOWN STATE: The Penguins sit just above NKU in the Horizon League standings at 4-5, but those five losses have come against League-leading UIC and Valparaiso with three of the games decided by just one run. In YSU's most recent series against UIC, the Penguins took the Flames to extra innings in two games, holding the League's most potent offense to just seven runs across the three-game set.
  
Part of YSU's ability to hold teams to low run counts is its reliance on rookie pitcher Maddie Lusk. Lusk has pitched 141.1 innings for the Penguins, and leads the Horizon League in strikeouts with 111 throughout 22 appearances. Lusk has pitched four shutouts in her freshman campaign thus far, and holds a 2.08 ERA. Offensively, the Penguins have seen production out of multiple players with five driving in double-digit runs for YSU while the pair of Cali Mikovich and Hannah Lucas have recorded 30 and 33 hits, respectively, to pace the team.
  
The all-time series with the Penguins began just last year when NKU joined the Horizon League. The Norse traveled to Youngstown, Ohio, for the final series off the 2016 season, going 2-1 to cap off the season. In NKU's lone win over the Penguins, Dani Devlin went 3-ofor-5 with four RBI to help propel the Norse to a 12-9 victory in the second game of the series.