HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – Northern Kentucky softball kicks off a two-week stint in Florida with the Hatter Classic, hosted by Stetson on March 6-9. The Norse will face Sacred Heart in the first game of the tournament, set for 12 p.m. ET on Friday, March 6, followed by a 3 p.m. tilt with the host Hatters. On Saturday, March 7 at 10 a.m., the Norse take on Fairfield, followed by another matchup with Stetson at 5 p.m. The tournament concludes on Sunday, March 8, with a single game against Sacred Heart at 10 a.m.
LAST TIME OUT: The Norse posted a 3-1 record at the Coach B Classic, picking up wins over Murray State, Purdue Fort Wayne and Creighton.
Ava Lawson and
Hailey Whitmer paced the NKU bats with a .417 batting average, with Lawson slugging 1.000 while Whitmer had a slugging percentage of .750. Additionally, with a pair of home runs, Lawson moved to seventh all-time in career homers and currently has 14 to her name. In the circle,
Taylor Ginther and
Caitlin Karo picked up victories, with Ginther going 2-0 with a 0.88 ERA en route to her second Horizon League Pitcher of the Week award this season.
LEAGUE HONORS: In their first weekend back on the field this season, seniors
Taylor Hoover and Ginther hauled in Horizon League weekly honors. Hoover was named the Horizon League Player of the Week after batting .500 and slugging .917 at the Bruin Challenge, while Ginther was named the Co-Pitcher of the Week after going 2-0 with a 1.00 ERA and eight strikeouts thrown in 14.0 innings pitched. Ginther picked up the honor for the second time on March 2 after a pair of wins in 16.0 innings of work and a 0.88 ERA at the Coach B Classic.
CLASS ACT: On Feb. 18, senior center fielder Lawson was named one of 30 national candidates for the 2020 Senior CLASS Award. An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School, the award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities, highlighting the four Cs of community, classroom, character and competition. The 30 candidates will be narrowed down to 10 finalists midway through the regular season, after which those 10 names will be placed on an official ballot to be distributed through a nationwide vote for media, coaches and fans.
SCOUTING SACRED HEART: The Pioneers have gone 5-6 to open up their season, but are on a three-game winning streak with two victories over Bethune-Cookman and one over St. Bonaventure. Sacred Heart has also faced a common opponent of the Norse in Horizon League member Youngstown State, to which the Pioneers were shut out, 3-0. Alyssa Gonzalez, the reigning Northeast Conference Player of the Week, leads the team with a .364 batting average and a .788 slugging percentage, ranking 65th nationally in the latter. The sophomore is also driving in 1.27 runs per game, good for 23rd in the nation, and is 40th with 0.36 home runs per game. As a team, the Pioneers have been clubbing 1.18 home runs per game, sitting at 25th in the nation. The Norse can expect to see Shyanne Fennell at least once in the circle, as the junior has put in 36.2 innings of work on the year with a 2.48 ERA. Northern Kentucky has faced Sacred Heart just once in the history of the two programs. The Pioneers won during the 1993 season, 6-1.
SCOUTING STETSON: The Hatters hold an 8-12 mark, most recently going 2-4 in their own tournament against Colgate, Bethune-Cookman and Valparaiso. Stetson has also faced a Horizon League foe this year, falling 3-2 to Oakland on Feb. 23. Lizzie Schubert leads the team with 19 hits, 10 of which are extra-base, to go with 20 RBI. Riley Russell has been Stetson's leading run scorer, with 15 to date. In the circle, freshman Chloe Temples has gone a whopping 84.0 out of 135.1 innings. She holds a 2.17 ERA and has fanned 65 batters while only walking 15, ranking 90th nationally in walks per seven innings. However, Temples also ranks 15th with 10 hit batters in 13 appearances. As a member of the Atlantic Sun Conference, Stetson was an annual opponent for NKU during the early days of its Division I transition. The Norse have only won the first-ever meeting against the Hatters, as Stetson has won the last eight.
SCOUTING FAIRFIELD: The Stags are 2-7 on the season, with wins over North Carolina and Penn. Megan Forbes most recently was named the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Rookie of the Week after batting .357 with three home runs and four RBI. The freshman has had a successful start to her rookie campaign, ranking 14th nationally with 0.43 homers a contest. However, it is Sam Merino who leads the team at the dish with a .433 batting average this season with 13 hits and eight runs scored, while also ranking seventh with 0.89 stolen bases per game. Katie Kudlacik leads the Fairfield pitching staff with a 2-2 record and a 2.82 ERA. However, the entire pitching corps holds an 8.21 ERA while opponents have averaged a 3.90 ERA. NKU has gone 1-1 in the all-time series with Fairfield, the most recent being a high-scoring, 10-inning setback on March 12, 2016, 15-14.
