HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – Northern Kentucky softball heads into the postseason for the second-consecutive year as the Norse will take on the field at the 2019 Horizon League Championship. The tournament will run Wednesday-Saturday, May 8-11, in Chicago, and all games will be broadcast on ESPN+. NKU will play in the first game of the tournament, which pits the No. 4 Norse against No. 5 IUPUI at noon CT. The winner will advance to play host UIC on Thursday at noon, while the loser will play later that night in an elimination game.
LAST TIME OUT: The Norse secured the No. 4 seed in the Horizon League Championship after downing Cleveland State, 2-1. In the two wins, NKU shut the Vikings out in both appearances, 3-0 and 8-0 (6). The Norse loaded the bases early in the sixth inning of the rubber match with a 2-0 advantage and plated the six runs needed to invoke the run rule.
Taylor Ginther was later named the Horizon League Pitcher of the Week for her two complete-game shutouts, holding the Vikings to just three hits in 13.0 innings pitched.
POSTSEASON HONORS: NKU had three student-athletes earn postseason honors, as junior center fielder
Ava Lawson was named to the All-Horizon League First Team for the second-straight season while sophomore second baseman
Josie Frazier and junior pitcher
Taylor Ginther were named to the second team.
Lawson ranked third in the Horizon League with nine doubles on the season and tied for fifth with 18 RBI. She also ranked seventh in both batting average (.382) and hits (29), was eighth with 18 runs scored and 10th with a .453 on-base percentage.
Frazier ranked second on the team with a .330 batting average and also clubbed 29 hits to tie for second in the League while sitting just outside the top-10 with 17 runs scored. Frazier had the third-most at-bats in the league (88) and was one of the toughest to strike out, as she was fanned just three times.
Ginther was the most utilized pitcher in the league, tossing 110.0 innings en route to an 8-5 record, ranking second in the league in wins. She also ranked fifth with a 2.10 ERA and eighth in opponent batting average (.255) and strikeouts.
TOURNAMENT FIELD: Preseason Horizon League favorite UIC safely secured the top seed in the 2019 tournament, along with hosting rights and a first-round bye, with its 20-4 record in league play. NKU was one of the three teams to take a win from the Flames, claiming a 4-2 series opener on April 19. After not qualifying for the tournament in 2018, Detroit Mercy made a tremendous turnaround to earn the No. 2 seed and a first-round bye after going 16-8 in league play. Youngstown State earned the No. 3 seed, just ahead of NKU with a 13-9 record. IUPUI (11-11) and Oakland (9-14) round out the tournament field.
SCOUTING IUPUI: The Jaguars finished the Horizon League regular season with an 11-11 record, taking series wins over NKU, Wright State, Oakland and Cleveland State. In the league-opening series at NKU, IUPUI won in a variety of ways, with an eight-inning contest, a five-inning game and a 1-0 affair. IUPUI's roster is headlined by a number of all-league performers, led by first-team honoree McKenzie Loge. The sophomore fielder posted a .382 batting average in league games and scored 20 runs for the Jaguars. Mandy Dallas and Delaney Thompson were both named to the second team, batting .338 and .329, respectively, with 40 runs scored and 18 extra-base hits between the pair. IUPUI also has a pair of rookie standouts in Jaida Speth and Lexi Lucas. Speth batted .311 in league games, driving in 12 runs on 23 hits, while Lucas was the primary pitcher for the Jaguars. She went 6-7 in her freshman campaign, posting a 4.76 ERA and picking up a pair of shutouts.
