NASHVILLE – Northern Kentucky softball fell to Marist, 4-3, but bounced back with a win over host Belmont, 6-5, to close out its opening weekend of competition. The Norse move to 3-1 to start the year.
Game 1: Marist 4, NKU 3
At the Plate
In the Circle
- Caitlin Karo started for the Norse and absorbed the loss. The junior hurler tossed 4.0 innings with three strikeouts, allowing four runs on five hits.
- Faith Howard pitched the final 2.0 innings, tossing four strikeouts while walking one and allowing a pair of hits.
Scoring Summary
- The Norse got on the board early as Frazier led off with a single down the left field line before being driven in thanks to a two-run home run from Lawson.
- Marist answered back with an RBI single in the third and an RBI double in the fourth to tie it up at two runs apiece.
- The Red Foxes then took the lead in the fifth as the first batter was walked, followed by a two-run homer to give Marist a 4-2 advantage.
- NKU was able to score one more run in the seventh as Frazier led off with a bunt for a single, followed by a single by Mulder and a walk drawn by Lawson to load the bases. Whitmer clubbed a sac fly to send Frazier home, but the Norse were unable to plate any more runs.
Game 2: NKU 6, Belmont 5
At the Plate
- NKU bested the Bruins at the plate, 12-8. Both teams committed two errors.
- Mulder went 3-for-4, while Whitmer and Hoover both went 2-for-3 while scoring a run each.
- Hoover, Jordan Jenkins, Kailey Rossiter and Toree Stalter each drove in a run.
In the Circle
- Taylor Ginther pitched her second complete game of the season, moving to 2-0. The senior hurler fanned five batters while issuing three walks.
Scoring Summary
- NKU plated two runs in the second thanks to a pair of extra-base hits by Whitmer and Hoover. Whitmer led off the frame with a double to left field, and pinch runner Isabell Alexander was driven in off a triple to right center by Hoover. She then scored off an RBI single by Stalter.
- Following the runs, NKU was able to load the bases with two outs in both the second and third inning, but the Belmont pitcher managed to get out of the jam on both occasions with inning-ending strikeouts.
- Belmont got on the board in the bottom of the second with a pair of singles combining for one run.
- The Norse were able to load the bases once more in the fifth, and Jenkins went to the plate as a pinch hitter, driving in pinch runner O'Hair off a sac fly. Stalter and Rossiter were then able to score off a throwing error by the Belmont third baseman.
- NKU loaded the bases again in the sixth and capitalized on a Rossiter single to left field that sent Whitmer home for NKU's final run.
- Belmont used the final inning to load the bases with one out, plating two runs off a double and later using a throwing error to get within a run, 6-5. However, the Bruins' late run was stopped there as NKU recorded the necessary out to seal the game.
Norse Notes
- Northern Kentucky recorded its best season-opening record since moving to Division I. NKU had previously gone 2-2 in 2018, which was the first winning season in Division I for the Norse at 24-22.
- Over the weekend, Hoover posted a .500 batting average and a .917 slugging percentage with six hits, including two extra-base hits, two RBI and two runs.
- Mulder and Whitmer also batted above .400 at .467 and .417, respectively. Mulder led the squad with seven hits while Whitmer had five. Both scored a run and drove one in. Mulder had three multi-hit games in four showings.
- Both Frazier and Lawson recorded a hit in all four games, and six different Norse reached base in every game.
- As a team, the Norse batted .301 and NKU's pitching staff recorded a .275 ERA.
Up Next
- The Norse head to Shelby, North Carolina, next weekend for the Gardner-Webb Invitational. NKU faces Eastern Illinois and Gardner-Webb on Friday, Feb. 21 before taking on Mount Saint Mary's and the host Bulldogs once more on Saturday, Feb. 22. The tournament closes with a second game against EIU on Sunday, Feb. 23.
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