HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – Northern Kentucky softball makes its final road trip of the regular season this weekend, traveling to the Motor City to take on Detroit Mercy. The series is scheduled for Friday-Saturday, April 26-27, with a 3 p.m. single game on Friday and a noon doubleheader on Saturday. All three games will be broadcast on ESPN+.
 
LAST TIME OUT: The Norse won their fourth Horizon League series with a pair of wins over Youngstown State. The first contest was a marathon matchup that lasted 16 innings, with the Norse coming out on top, 4-3, after Taylor Hoover drove Kit Rocco in for the winning run. Taylor Ginther pitched the complete game and picked up her 19th career victory, which puts her in a tie with Ashlynn Roberts for the most career wins in the Division I era. Pitching was also key in the clinching win in the first game of Wednesday's doubleheader, as Emily Koperdak struck out a career-high 10 batters, the most batters struck out by a Norse since Roberts fanned 11 on March 24, 2017 against Valparaiso. The Norse went on to win, 3-1, with Hoover driving in the winning run once again.
 
SCOUTING DETROIT MERCY: The Titans sit at second in the Horizon League with a 12-6 record in league play, suffering a sweep at league-leading UIC along with single losses against Oakland, Youngstown State and Green Bay. In the most recent series, the Titans dropped a 5-3 decision to the Phoenix in the series opener, but bounced back with 2-0 and 6-4 wins in the next day's doubleheader. Jordan Manno has been leading the Titans as the only player batting above .300 on the year. she sports a .361 batting average, including .407 in league games, driving in a team-high 26 runs on 52 hits overall. Manno ranks in the top-10 of Horizon League rankings in batting average, slugging percentage (.661), runs scored (15), hits (24), triples (1), and home runs (3). However, the player to watch for the Titans is senior pitcher Ashley Mauser, who is leading the league slate with eight wins and 79 batters struck out. Mauser is also second in opponent batting average (.199) and third in ERA (.216). Liz Murphy completes the other half of a potent pitching duo, leading the league with five saves while ranking second in ERA (1.90), fourth in opponent batting average (.211) and fifth in strikeouts (51). The tandem has helped lead UDM to nine shutouts on the season, ranking 54th nationally. Mauser has six of those shutouts to her name, ranking 24th nationally. When the two teams met last year in the final series of the regular season, NKU swept the Titans, 3-0.
 
NORSE IN THE RANKINGS: NKU has a handful of student-athletes who are performing among the league's best during the Horizon League slate. Junior center fielder Ava Lawson tops the standings with nine doubles, also ranking fourth in batting average (.446), sixth in hits (25) and on-base percentage (.516), seventh in slugging percentage (.661) and eighth in RBI (14). Sophomore second baseman Josie Frazier has also clubbed 25 hits and ranks fifth in the league with six stolen bases. In the circle, Taylor Ginther has been the most utilized pitcher in the league with 84.0 innings of work, ranks fourth in wins (5) and batters struck out looking (19), and is seventh with a 2.50 ERA.