HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – Northern Kentucky softball split its Saturday doubleheader with Green Bay to clinch its third-straight Horizon League series. The Phoenix got the upper hand in the first game, 8-4, before the Norse outlasted Green Bay in the rubber match in a 12-inning victory, 3-2. NKU moves to 13-22 overall and 6-5 in Horizon League play while the Phoenix now sit at 10-19 (5-7 Horizon).
Game 1: Green Bay 8, NKU 4
At the Plate
In the Circle
- Emily Koperdak pitched 7.0 innings, striking out two batters and walking two. She falls to 2-11 with the loss.
- Hailey Whitmer also spent time in the circle, walking one batter and allowing four runs on four hits.
Scoring Summary
- Northern Kentucky was the first to strike in the contest as Taylor Hoover led off the second with a single up the middle, with Alexis McDaniel entering the contest as a pinch runner. She was driven in off a single to right field by Jenkins.
- NKU added two more runs in the third as Zahrya McFarland drew a walk and later scored on a fielder's choice. Mulder was hit by a pitch with bases loaded to send Lawson across the plate.
- Green Bay used a two-run homer in the fifth to get within a run, and the Norse answered back in the bottom of the frame as Jenkins added another RBI single, scoring Kailey Rossiter.
- The Phoenix posted six runs in the sixth inning to jump out to an 8-4 lead, an advantage that the team would hold through the remainder of the contest.
Game 2: NKU 3, Green Bay 2 (12 innings)
At the Plate
- Green Bay once again recorded 11 hits in the game, while the Norse had 10 hits.
- Josie Frazier, Rocco and Mulder each had two hits. Jenkins added another RBI, as did Rocco.
In the Circle
- Taylor Ginther pitched the entire 12.0 innings, striking out a career-best seven batters and walking a pair. She threw 187 pitches in the contest and moves to 8-10 with the victory.
Scoring Summary
- Green Bay quickly loaded the bases within the first four batters and plated the first run thanks to a bases-loaded walk. A single up the middle allowed the Phoenix to plate one more, but Ginther would hold her opponent scoreless for the remainder of the contest.
- Frazier led off the first with a single to the Green Bay pitcher and was advanced by a sac bunt by McFarland. Rocco singled to left field, allowing Frazier to score and the Norse were within a run.
- NKU did not score again until the sixth inning as Lawson led off the frame with a double to center field that just barely missed out on exiting the park, staying inside the field as it hit the upper part of the fence. Jenkins drove her in off a single up the middle to knot the contest at 2-2.
- Between the eighth and 11th innings, Ginther allowed just one batter to reach base. In the 12th, the Phoenix got three on base with a pair of singles and a fielder's choice, but the Norse defense quickly dispatched Green Bay in the frame.
- McFarland ripped the first pitch she faced deep to right field for a triple and was able to make her way home after the throw to third bounced off her back and towards the Green Bay dugout, putting an end to the three-hour game.
Up Next
- NKU will take on in-state foe Eastern Kentucky in a midweek single game. First pitch from Richmond, Kentucky, is set for 3 p.m. on Wednesday, April 17.
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