SPARTANBURG, SC – Northern Kentucky's softball team aims to extend its hot start when it plays five games in three days at the Upstate Classic at South Carolina Upstate's Cyrill Field.
 
The Norse face a familiar foe in South Carolina State, a team they trounced 21-1 in five innings at last weekend's Blue Hose Invitational, at 1 p.m. Friday. NKU plays USC Upstate twice (3 p.m. Friday and 2:30 p.m. Saturday) and Canisius twice (noon Saturday and 11 a.m. Sunday).
 
The Upstate Classic marks NKU's second of four multi-team events to start the season. The Norse also will compete in the Duke Invitational in Durham, N.C. and the Coach B Classic in Carbondale, Ill.
 
QUICK HITTERS
• NKU began the season 4-1 after excelling at the Blue Hose Invitational in Clinton, SC. The Norse lost their season opener, a 5-0 defeat by Tennessee Tech, and then won four straight. NKU downed host Presbyterian twice, South Carolina State and Tennessee Tech. 
 
• Northern Kentucky received 39 votes and was picked to finish sixth in the #HLSB preseason poll. Oakland, the preseason favorite, received two first place nods among its 82 total votes. Second place Youngstown State (81 points) had five first-place votes.
 
• Six newcomers join NKU this season: junior Hannah Colbert (John Logan College) and freshmen Alicia Flores, Charly Koehler, Megan Kincer, Olivia Pastin and Trinity Robertson.
 
• C/UT Kendyl McKeough is batting .444 with a team-high eight hits, two home runs and five RBI. She homered in the first inning of a 7-3 win over Presbyterian Feb. 11, went 3-for-4 with three RBI and three scored runs in a rout of South Carolina State Feb. 12, and delivered a walk-off home run in a dramatic 6-5 win over Tennessee Tech later the same day.
 
• MIF Tatum Biddle leads the Norse with seven RBI. She has five hits, a double and a team-high three triples heading into the team's second tournament. 
 
• IF Charly Koehler is batting .500 in the four games she has played. The freshman has amassed five hits in her 10 at-bats and contributed a double, three RBI and a team-high-tying six runs scored. Her OBP is .545.
 
• OF Ella LeMonier has boosted NKU in multiple ways. Her batting average is fourth on the team (.333). Her slugging percentage is fifth (.444). She has scored five runs (tied for second), had six hits (second), four RBI (tied for third) and a triple (second) in 18 at-bats (first).
 
• Seven Norse players have had multi-hit games, led by Kendyl McKeough's three.
 
SCOUTING SOUTH CAROLINA STATE: The Bulldogs (0-4) have been outscored 53-4 this season, a stat that includes NKU's 21-1 five-inning rout Feb. 12. South Carolina State was picked last in the Mid-Eastern Athletic after going 4-24 (3-14 MEAC) in 2021. Preseason Second Team selection Deasia Lowther is back after propelling the team in hitting (.304) with 11 RBI and four home runs. She was 3-13 in the circle last season with 36 strikeouts.
 
SCOUTING USC UPSTATE: The Spartans have rocketed to a 5-0 start with wins over North Carolina Central, Massachusetts (twice) and Towson (twice) at their own Cyrill Stadium. Peyton Darnell earned Big South Player of the Week after leading the NCAA with home runs (4) and RBI (9) in the undefeated weekend. She posted a 1.375 slugging percentage after five of her nine hits went for extra bases. Upstate was picked second in the Big South's preseason poll.
 
SCOUTING CANISIUS: While the other teams in the Upstate Classic have a few games under their belts, this will be a season-opening weekend for Canisius. NKU will be the team's second and fourth opponent. The Golden Griffins were picked sixth among 11 teams in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference's preseason coaches' poll. Last year's team went 22-14 (22-11 MAAC) and lost to Manhattan in the conference tournament championship.