HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – Northern Kentucky softball ends its home season this weekend with a three-game series against Green Bay on Friday and Saturday, April 28-29. In anticipation of weather conditions, the series has been slightly altered, starting with a doubleheader on Friday at 3 p.m. and concluding with a noon single game on Saturday. The series finale will be broadcast on the ESPN3 platform with Brady Laber on the call. Fans can stream the game live on computers, tablets and smart phones through WatchESPN and the ESPN App.
Both days feature different promotions, with Friday acting as NKU's Strike Out Cancer day while Saturday will be Senior Day and Bark in the Park. Friday will include a donation sale and a raffle basket with all proceeds from Strike Out Cancer going directly to the American Cancer Society. Saturday will honor NKU's three seniors prior to the first pitch:
Dani Devlin,
Paige McQueen and
Charlie Nolen. Fans are also encouraged to bring their furry friends to Bark in the Park for a dog social, which will feature giveaways such as dog bowls and beach towels.
LAST TIME OUT: NKU dropped both ends of a doubleheader in its final nonconference matchup of the year, falling on the road to Dayton, 5-1 and 7-1. Both of NKU's runs came courtesy of a home run, as
Sydney Ferrante unleashed a first-inning homer in game one before
Ava Lawson recorded her second career home run in game two.
SCOUTING GREEN BAY: The Phoenix have struggled this season with a 2-28 record and a 1-15 mark in League play. Green Bay's two victories this season were a 10-2 win over IUPUI on Feb. 12 and a 4-3 series-opening win against Valparaiso on April 4. Since the win over Valpo, the Phoenix have dropped their past 12 games with sweeps from Oakland, UIC and Youngstown State.
Green Bay is batting .246 on the season and is scoring 2.4 runs per game while allowing opponents to cross the plate an average of 7.7 times per contest. Despite the team batting average, the Phoenix have four players who are batting above .300, led by freshman catcher Chyanne Onstad with a .375 clip. Onstad leads the team in hits (33) and RBI (14), and is the toughest player to strike out in the Horizon League having been struck out just five times in 88 at-bats. In the circle, Green Bay relies heavily on junior righty Katie Rossman, who has tossed 116.0 innings for the squad. Rossman has recorded Green Bay's only wins, and holds a 6.76 ERA.
NKU is 1-2 against Green Bay in the all-time series. When the two teams met last year on April 29-30, the Phoenix edged out the Norse 8-7 in the series opener, after which NKU retaliated with a 7-0 shutout. Green Bay claimed the series with an 8-1 win in the rubber match.
