CLEVELAND – The Northern Kentucky softball program posted an important Horizon League doubleheader split against Cleveland State at Viking Field on Friday afternoon.
 
With the victory, the Norse remained in third overall in the conference at 14-9 in Horizon play. With another win on Saturday, NKU would secure the third-place seed overall for the upcoming Horizon League tournament, while a loss would allow the Vikings to leapfrog the Norse for the third seed.
 
No matter what happens on Saturday in the series and regular season finale, Northern Kentucky could finish no worse than the No. 4 seed for the upcoming conference tournament.


THE BASICS – GAME ONE
FINAL: Northern Kentucky – 0, Cleveland State – 3 (7 innings)
LOCATION: Viking Field – Cleveland, Ohio
RECORDS: NKU 21-19 (13-9 HL), CSU 17-22 (13-9 HL)
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Trinity Robertson (1-for-2) and Sydni Barnes (also 1-for-2) were the only Norse to record a hit in the contest.
- Robertson and Olivia Pastin also drew a walk.
- Lexy Morris added a stolen base in the series opener.
- Madisyn Eads closed the game out with two scoreless innings of relief. She posted two strikeouts and only allowed a single hit over the final two frames.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Cleveland State jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first.
- The Vikings added two insurance runs in the bottom of the third, and it was all Cleveland State needed to secure the 1-0 victory.
 

THE BASICS – GAME TWO
FINAL: Northern Kentucky – 12, Cleveland State – 4 (6 innings)
LOCATION: Viking Field – Cleveland, Ohio
RECORDS: NKU 22-19 (14-9 HL), CSU 17-23 (13-10 HL)
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Trinity Robertson and Olivia Pastin posted huge outbursts in the second game of the day to lead the Norse attack.
- Robertson went 2-for-4 with two home runs, four RBI and two runs scored while Pastin also added a 2-for-4 effort with four RBI and a run.
- Maddie Lacer (also 2-4 with two RBI and a run), Jena Rhoads (2-for-3, one RBI, two runs scored) and Sydni Barnes (1-for-4, one RBI) all drove in runs for the Norse.
- Ella LeMonier (1-for-3, two runs, one steal), Mack Brow (2-for-2, two runs scored), Kayla Shymkewich (1-for-3, one run) and Brielle DiMemmo (one run scored) also came around to score for NKU.
- Madisyn Eads picked up the victory, her sixth of the season, with 4.2 scoreless innings in relief. She allowed just three hits to go with one punchout. For the day, Eads threw 6.2 scoreless frames for the Norse.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The two sides each scored a run in the first inning to make it a 1-1 game.
- Cleveland State tried to pull away with three runs in the bottom of the second to take a 4-1 lead.
- It was all Northern Kentucky from that point on as the Norse dropped four runs in the top of the third, one in both the fourth and fifth and five more in the top of the sixth to seal the 12-4 run-rule victory.
 

NEXT UP
The Norse and Vikings meet up for the series and regular season finale for both squads on Saturday, May 4. First pitch is set for 1 PM ET inside Viking Field.
 
 
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