HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – The final weekend nonconference tournament slate for the Northern Kentucky softball team features games against Southern Illinois, Creighton and Saint Louis. The three-day event kicks off on Friday, March 5.
 
Game Information
Northern Kentucky University Norse (0-4 Overall, 0-0 Horizon League)
Southern Illinois University Salukis (9-0 Overall, 0-0 MVC)
Friday, March 5 – 1:15 p.m. (ET)
Carbondale, Ill. | Charlotte West Stadium (502)
Stats: Live Stats
 
Creighton University Bluejays (0-3 Overall, 0-0 Big East)
Saturday, March 6 – 11 a.m. (ET)
Carbondale, Ill. | Charlotte West Stadium (502)
Stats: Live Stats
 
Saint Louis University Bilikens (0-3 Overall, 0-0 A-10)
Saturday, March 6 – 3:30 p.m. (ET) | Sunday, March 7 – 3:30 p.m. (ET)
Carbondale, Ill. | Charlotte West Stadium (502)
Stats: Live Stats
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Quick Hitters
Northern Kentucky Points
• NKU begins the season 0-4 after dropping contests to No. 23 Tennessee, Central Michigan, UT-Martin and Illinois State.
• The Norse held leads or were tied through five innings against both CMU and UT-Martin.
• NKU is set to face Saint Louis (twice), Southern Illinois and Creighton in the three-day Saluki Invitational.
• In the all-time series with each opponent, NKU is 0-1 against Saint Louis and Southern Illinois, and 1-0 against Creighton.
• 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.
• During the 2020 season, Northern Kentucky totaled 19 double plays over the span of 19 games, which ranked 69th nationally and second in the Horizon League.
• The Norse found themselves ranked 77th in earned run average at 2.78. Among Horizon League members, this ranked first.
• The Norse were also ranked 94th nationally and second in the conference with a fielding percentage of .963.
• OF Ava Lawson ended the 2019-2020 season with six home runs, averaging .32 home runs per game, which ranked third in the Horizon League and 54th among all active NCAA players.
• Lawson opened the season with a home run and a double in NKU's game against CMU. She now has 17 career long balls, which ties her with Sydni Ferrante for seventh most in NKU history.
• 3B/C Madi Mulder leads NKU with a .333 batting average thus far.
• OF Jenna O'Hair is batting .250 on the year with two RBI and two runs scored. She has a team-high .455 on-base percentage.
• Mulder, Lawson and O'Hair each have multi-hit games thus far for the Norse, while the latter two have also produced all three of the team's multi-RBI contests.
• Freshman OF Megan Lenhart reached base safely in her first three intercollegiate games over the weekend. She's hitting .222 with a pair of doubles for the Norse.
• 1B Kendyl McKeough, a transfer from Eastern Illinois, had 18 hits on 60 at bats for the Panthers during the 2020 season. She also belted four home runs and 14 RBI's, which ranked second for EIU.
• Along with McKeough, eight newcomers join the Norse this season, including Maddie Lacer, Sydni Barnes, Madisyn Eads, Abby Moffet, Ella LeMonier, Sophie Margelot, Arrington Walker and Lenhart.
 
Last Time Out
The Norse are coming off of their first weekend of action, where they dropped four games.

Scouting Southern Illinois
The Salukis are 9-0 on the year after picking up three wins last weekend, and are currently on an 18-game win streak dating back to last season. Southern Illinois is 1-0 all-time against Northern Kentucky.

Scouting Creighton
Creighton started the year on a three-game skid, dropping all three contests against Wichita State last weekend. The last meeting between the Bluejays and the Norse was on Feb. 1, 2020, which NKU won 7-1. This was also the only previous matchup between the two teams.

Scouting Saint Louis
The Billikens find themselves at 0-3 to start the season and have seen seven of their 10 matches canceled. The only meeting against Saint Louis came in 2015, when Northern Kentucky was defeated, 8-0.