CLEVELAND, Ohio - The Cleveland State softball team split a doublheader with Northern Kentucky on Saturday afternoon at Viking Field.
The Norse won the opener, 4-3, while CSU claimed the series finale, 11-0, in five innings and took two out of three in the series.
The Vikings are now 13-27 overall and 6-9 in the Horizon League, while NKU is now 10-35 overall and 3-14 in the League.
CSU returns to action on Tuesday and Wednesday (April 26-27) for a three-game series at Oakland. The teams will play a single game at 4:00 pm on Tuesday with a doubleheader scheduled for Wednesday at 3:00 pm.
GAME 1: Northern Kentucky 4, Cleveland State 3
Cleveland State's seventh inning rally fell one run short as the Vikings fell to Northern Kentucky, 4-3.
The Norse scored all four of their runs in the third inning to take the lead and it stayed that way until the bottom of the seventh when the Vikings rallied.
Alyson Broschk led off the inning with a home run to slice the deficit to 4-1. Mel Woodard followed with a single and after the Norse recorded the first out of the inning, Alisha Silva delivered a two-run homer to right field to cut the Norse lead to 4-3.
Erica McNew had a two-out single, but could not move any further on the base paths as NKU won the middle game of the series.
McNew finished 3-for-3 with a walk, while Susan Knight, Broschk, Woodard and Silva all had one hit apiece.
GAME 2: Cleveland State 11, Northern Kentucky 0 (5 innings)
The Vikings pounded out 11 hits and scored at least one run in every inning to win the series finale from Northern Kentucky, 11-0, in five innings.
CSU wasted little time jumping on the board as Katelind Phillips led off the home half of the first inning with a single and moved to second on a wild pitch. After McNew drew a walk, the duo moved up to second and third on a wild pitch and scored on Knight's two-run double.
The Vikings opened the game up in the second, scoring five runs, the first coming when Kait Gairing stole home as part of a double steal. Knight and Broschk added RBI singles, while Riley Ries drilled a two-run double.
McNew's three-run homer in the third - her 11th of the season - extended the lead to 10-0 and Broschk added an RBI double in the fourth to make it 11-0.
Phillips, Knight, Ries and Broschk all had two hits in the series finale, while McNew had a hit and was walked three times. Gairing and Darien Ward also had a hit.
Macy Kaisk earned the win to improve to 6-7 this year. She worked all five innings, giving up four hits and striking out two to earn the shutout.
