HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – The Northern Kentucky softball team staked claim to a 5-2 win in game one of Friday's doubleheader against Youngstown State before falling 11-2 in game two. NKU moves to 13-23 (12-16 Horizon League) on the year, while YSU sits at 34-12 (27-7 HL).
   
At the Plate 

• Six Norse registered hits in the game, all of them being of the single variety with Hailey Whitmer's double being the lone exception.
• Kendyl McKeough was 1-for-1 at the dish with three walks and an RBI.
• Josie Frazier went 1-for-2 and scored twice.
• Ava Lawson's lone hit drove in two runs and she scored once herself.
• Madi Mulder and Tatum Biddle registered the other two hits, while Mulder and Jenkins drove in a run apiece.

 
In the Circle 

• The nod went to Madisyn Eads for the Norse, who made her fourth-consecutive start dating back to the final three games of NKU's series against IUPUI.
• Eads registered her fourth-straight complete game win as well, improving to 5-3 on the year. The freshman worked all 7.0 innings, allowing two runs on six hits and three walks. She also had three strikeouts.
• Maddi Lusk got the call for YSU. She allowed five runs on six hits and five walks after tossing the first 4.1 innings. Lusk drops to 13-5 on the year.
• Sophie Howell entered during NKU's big fifth inning, working a scoreless 1.2 innings.

 
Scoring Summary 

• Both teams were able to put a pair of runners on base in the first, but Lusk and Eads were up to the task in the circle and snuffed out both scoring opportunities.
• Youngstown State loaded the bases with one out in the third on singles from Yasmine Romero and Lusk followed by Jillian Jaske's free pass. But, Eads induced a fielder's choice groundout to get the lead runner at home and sat the final batter down with a strikeout.
• Northern Kentucky struck for a run in the home half of the third. Frazier was hit by a pitch to open the frame and McKeough drove her home with a single to center.
• The Norse poured in four runs in the fifth to pull ahead, 5-0. Lawson plated Frazier and Natalia Lozada on a single to center field. Mulder then singled up the middle to drive in Sophie Margelot, and Lawson scored on Jenkins' RBI groundout.
• A two-run homer from Nikki Saibene got two of the runs back for YSU in the top of the sixth.
• NKU threatened again in its side of the sixth, loading the bases on a fielding error and two walks, but was unable to get a run across.
   

 
At the Plate 

• Whitmer had a 1-for-2 showing, driving in NKU's lone RBI.
• Frazier registered a pair of base knocks in four at-bats.
• Mulder and Megan Lenhart had the other two hits, with Mulder doubling and scoring a run.

 
In the Circle 

• Faith Howard (2-5) took the circle for NKU at the start of the game, working into the third inning. She was charged with six runs on seven hits.
• Kaitlin Caro entered in relief and tossed 3.1 innings, allowing five runs on six hits.
• Sydni Barnes threw the final 0.2 innings, retiring both batters she faced.
• Elle Buffenbarger toed the rubber for YSU, going the distance in a winning effort that pushed her record to 18-3 on the season. She gave up two runs, though only one was earned, on four hits and three walks.

 
Scoring Summary 

• YSU wasted little time scoring to open game two, plating two runs on three hits in the first. Jakse and Avery Schumacher delivered the RBI hits.
• The Norse answered with a two-run second. Mulder doubled to open the inning and scored on Whitmer's single down the right-field line. After singles from Lenhart and Frazier loaded the bases, Payton Welch scored after Saibene misplayed LeMonier's ball down the third-base line.
• Youngstown State regained control after putting up six runs on seven hits in the third. Jakse and Grace Cea each had a pair of RBIs, and Saibene plated the other RBI for the Penguins.
• A solo homer from Saibene in the fifth, her second of the day, was followed by a two-run shot by Elizabeth Birkbeck in the sixth to push the Penguins ahead, 11-2.
• The Norse got a pair of runners aboard in the bottom of the sixth, but weren't able to plate any runs.

 
Up Next 
NKU closes the regular-season with two more games against YSU on Saturday. A noon first pitch is slated to begin the doubleheader. In a pregame ceremony, Northern Kentucky will honors its 2021 seniors for their time as Norse.