JACKSONVILLE – The Northern Kentucky softball program put on one heck of a seventh inning comeback attempt, but in the end the Norse fell just short to host Jacksonville, 5-4, in a mid-week, non-conference game at the Debbie & Pruitt Complex on Wednesday evening.
 
THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: Northern Kentucky – 4, Jacksonville – 5 (7 innings)
LOCATION: Debbie & Pruitt Complex – Jacksonville, Florida
RECORDS: NKU 4-12 (0-0 HL), JU 10-9 (0-0 ASUN) 


INSIDE THE BOX SCORE 
- Sydni Barnes (1-for-4), Trinity Robertson (1-for-3), Olivia Pastin (1-for-3) and Jena Rhoads (1-for-3) recorded NKU's four hits in the contest.
- Barnes paced the Norse attack with two RBI. Rhoads also added a RBI.
- Ella LeMonier, Megan Kincer and Brielle DiMemmo all drew a single walk.
- Madisyn Eads threw 1.1 scoreless innings of relief to go with a punchout.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED 
- Jacksonville jumped out to an early lead with two runs in the bottom of the first to take a 2-0 edge.
- The Dolphins added two more runs to their lead in the bottom of the third to extend its advantage to 4-0.
- Jacksonville scored another run in the bottom of the fifth, which ended up being the insurance run the Dolphins needed.
- NKU stormed back with four runs in the top of the seventh. Rhoads got the scoring started with a RBI single to make it 5-1. The Norse then loaded the bases with two outs as the rally got underway. A sharp LeMonier hit forced a Jacksonville error that scored Rhoads to make it 5-2. Barnes followed her up with a two-RBI single that plated DiMemmo and Kincer to make it 5-4. Jacksonville then regrouped and forced a NKU pop up to escape with the 5-4 victory.
 
NEXT UP 
The Norse will play in five more games this week, started off by a showdown with Troy on Friday March 10.
 

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