HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – Northern Kentucky softball continues Horizon League action as it travels to Rochester, Michigan, to take on Oakland in a four-game series. The series comes a week after a pair of pitching duels between the NKU and Green Bay. Friday is slated for a 2 p.m. start time while Saturday will see a 1 p.m. first pitch.
 
Game Information
Northern Kentucky University Norse (3-9 Overall, 2-2 Horizon League)
Oakland University Golden Grizzlies (4-4 Overall, 3-1 Horizon League)
Friday, March 19 – 2 p.m. (ET) | 4 p.m. (ET)
Saturday, March 13 – 1 p.m. (ET) | 3 p.m. (ET)
Rochester, MI. | Oakland Softball Field (250)
Stats: Live Stats
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Quick Hitters
• NKU begins the season 3-9 after picking up a pair of wins in a series split with Green Bay. The two wins put the Norse in a jumbled mess of eight teams with a 2-2 league record.
• The Norse have held leads in eight of their twelve contests this season.
• NKU is set to face Oakland in a four-game series this weekend as league play continues. This series marks the first Horizon League road matchup for Northern Kentucky since April 27, 2019 (Detroit Mercy).
• In the all-time series against Oakland, NKU is 5-7. The last matchup came on May 9, 2019, where the Norse came out victorious, 3-2.
• Northern Kentucky received 74 votes and were picked to finish third in the #HLSB preseason poll. This comes after NKU went 9-10 in the COVID-19-shortened 2020 season and went 22-33 with a 12-11 record in league play, good for a fourth-place league finish, in 2019.
• Though just four games into the Horizon League slate, NKU has a league-leading 0.90 ERA in league games, allowing just four earned runs in the opening weekend against Green Bay.
• The Norse are also second in league-only games with 30 strikeouts.
• P Lauryn Hicks was named the #HLSB Pitcher of the Week after going 2-0 with a 1.00 ERA, 18 strikeouts, and allowing Green Bay to hit just .104.
• In game one versus the Phoenix, Hicks registered a complete-game shutout with 11 K's.
• After starting each of the last eight games, freshman OF Ella LeMonier is batting a team-high .367 and is coming off a four-game series with Green Bay where she went 6-of-16 (.375) and scored three runs.
• 2B Josie Frazier leads the Norse with fifteen hits and seven runs, and is an impressive 3-of-4 on stolen base attempts. Her .357 batting average is second-best for the Norse.
• 3B/C Madi Mulder is batting .313. Three of her 10 hits on the season are doubles.
• OF Ava Lawson has seven hits this year, six of them are of the extra base variety (two doubles, one triple, two home runs). Lawson's two long balls give her 18 for her career, tying Katelyn Roy for sixth all-time in NKU's record book.
• IF/OF Jenna O'Hair has three RBI and three runs to go along with a team-best .382 OBP.
• P Faith Howard pitched nine, dazzling innings of relief in game two against Green Bay on Friday, allowing a single run on four hits and a walk, while striking out four batters.
• Freshman OF Megan Lenhart has started every game for NKU this season. She's hitting .103 with three doubles on as many hits for the Norse.
• Since arriving at NKU, C/UT Kendyl McKeough has started every game and leads the team with 9 RBI. She is batting .171 and is also second on the team with one home run.
• Along with McKeough, eight newcomers join the Norse this season, including Maddie Lacer, Sydni Barnes, Madisyn Eads, Abby Moffett, LeMonier, Sophie Margelot, Arrington Walker and Lenhart.
 
Last Time Out
Northern Kentucky split its opening series in the Horizon League against Green Bay this past weekend. The Norse won the opening game on both days, and had a chance to win the pair they dropped. The four-game split moved NKU to 3-9 overall and 2-2 in the Horizon League.
 
Scouting Oakland
Oakland is 4-4 on the season and has won four of its last five games. The wins have come against Lipscomb (once) and fellow Horizon League member IUPUI (thrice). The four-game series against the Norse will be the Golden Grizzlies second conference matchup this season. In the all-time series between the teams, Oakland holds a slight advantage at 7-5, but Northern Kentucky has won the last three in the series.