HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – Northern Kentucky softball hits the road for a midweek series at Youngstown State, Tuesday and Wednesday, April 10-11. Tuesday will feature a doubleheader while Wednesday will be a single game, with both days featuring a 3 p.m. ET first pitch.

LAST TIME OUT: NKU opened up the Horizon League slate with a 3-2 mark, taking both games of a doubleheader against Wright State before going 1-2 on the road at IUPUI. The Norse shut out the Raiders in the second game of the doubleheader, 7-0, with Ashlynn Roberts and Faith Howard putting in work to pitch the shutout while Ava Lawson had two home runs and a double to drive in six of NKU's seven runs. Against the Jaguars, the Norse dropped the series opener and the rubber match, winning the middle game of the series, 8-5.
 
OPENING WEEK HONORS: Sophomore center fielder Ava Lawson and senior pitcher Ashlynn Roberts swept the Horizon League weekly honors following NKU's first week of League action. Lawson garnered Player of the Week honors after batting .500 and slugging 1.083 with eight RBI and four runs scored. Her biggest performance came against Wright State in the second game of a doubleheader, when Lawson went 3-for-3, starting with a three-RBI double before clubbing back-to-back homers. Her six RBI ties Sydney Ferrante's single-game record in the Division I era. Roberts went 2-0 to earn Pitcher of the Week with wins against Wright State and IUPUI. She held a 1.87 ERA through 15.0 innings and three appearances, tossing the first 5.0 innings of NKU's 7-0 shutout of Wright State before a complete-game victory over IUPUI, 8-5.
  
The award marks the second time this season that Roberts has been named the Pitcher of the Week, and Lawson is the fifth Norse to earn weekly honors this season. NKU has never had five other players honored in the same season (others are Madi Mulder and Taylor Ginther, March 5; and Sydney Ferrante, March 12). The most honorees NKU had was three in the 2011 season.
 
SEASON NOTABLES: NKU finds itself among the Horizon League's top statistics in several categories. The Norse lead the League in ERA (3.57) and rank second in scoring (4.30 runs per game), batting average (.289) and slugging percentage (.363). NKU is also averaging 1.11 doubles per game, ranking fourth among Horizon teams.  Individually, Sydney Ferrante leads the League and is No. 73 nationally with .93 RBI per game and tops in the nation with seven sacrifice flies. Her .425 batting average is the second-highest in the Horizon League and No. 43 nationally and she average .30 doubles per game, good for third in the Horizon. Sophomore Kailey Rossiter is one of the toughest players in the Horizon League and No. 62 nationally to strike out, as she has been fanned just three times this year.
 
SCOUTING YOUNGSTOWN STATE: The Penguins hold a 13-18 mark overall and are 4-5 in Horizon League action coming off a 2-1 series win over Oakland. Youngstown State leads the Horizon League in batting average, just a touch above NKU's clip at .293, as well as scoring (4.77), slugging percentage (.427) and doubles per game (1.42). Junior outfielder Lexi Zappitelli is the Horizon League leader in batting average (.444) and on-base percentage (.539), ranking 21st and 15th in the nation, respectively, and is second in the Horizon League with a .714 slugging percentage. Rookie Yazmine Romero is also near the top of the League in batting average at .404, while sophomore Maddi Lusk is the third Penguin batting above .300 at a .310 clip and is second in the Horizon with .87 RBI per game. Lusk also spends time in the circle with a 3-5 record and a 4.45 ERA through 50.1 innings pitched. Paige Geanangel has provided YSU with most of its wins with a 7-9 record and a 3.57 ERA, striking out 42 batters and walking 23 in 86.1 innings of work.