HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. - The Northern Kentucky University softball team will play a pair of road doubleheaders this weekend, beginning with a 3 p.m. Friday contest at Kentucky Wesleyan College.
NKU, now 34-2 overall and 6-0 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference, will face the University of Southern Indiana at 1 p.m. Saturday in Evansville, Ind. Southern Indiana is also 6-0 in the GLVC.
The Screaming Eagles, 18-15 overall, have won 16 consecutive home games and 32 of their last 33 at the USI Softball Field.
NKU needs just three wins to set the school record for victories in a season. The current Norse softball mark for wins in a season is 36, set in both 2002 and 2003.
NKU sophomore pitcher Krystal Lewallen needs just one victory to set the Norse’s single-season record for wins. Lewallen is currently 20-1 with a 0.15 earned run average. She is just the second 20-game winner in Norse history.
Lewallen leads the GLVC in victories, earned run average and strikeouts (176).
Norse junior pitcher Emily Breitholle owns a 9-1 record with a 0.92 ERA. Breitholle is currently tied for second place on the NKU all-time victory list with 42. Amy Serraino is NKU’s all-time career leader with 52 victories.
NKU junior first baseman Angie Lindeman is batting .307 with three home runs and a team-leading 32 runs batted in. Lindeman’s two-run single in the top of the eighth inning snapped a scoreless tie Sunday and lifted the Norse to a 3-0 win over Quincy University.
NKU junior center fielder Stephanie Leimbach is hitting .391 with six doubles and two triples. Leimbach also has scored 24 runs and leads the GLVC with 45 hits. Sophomore second baseman Ricki Rothbauer is batting .356 with eight doubles and six triples.
NKU is ranked No. 1 in the latest NCAA Division II Great Lakes Region poll. If the Norse remain atop those rankings, they will play host to the NCAA Division II Great Lakes Region Tournament in May.
The Norse are also ranked No. 8 nationally in the NCAA Division II poll. NKU is seeking its third straight berth in the NCAA Division II Tournament.
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Emily Breitholle |