EAST PEORIA, Ill. - Kristy Vanek and Amy Roberts each drove in two runs Sunday night as the Lewis University softball team captured the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament championship with a 6-2 win over Northern Kentucky University.
Kristen Porzel allowed just six hits in seven innings to pick up the win for Lewis, which improved to 44-11. The Flyers scored four times in the third inning to wipe out a 1-0 deficit, and Lewis added two insurance runs in the top of the seventh to secure the title and automatic berth in the NCAA Division II Tournament.
NKU, which dropped to 51-5 overall, was seeking its first GLVC Tournament championship. NKU is ranked No. 5 nationally in the NCAA Division II poll, and Lewis is rated 19th nationally.
It marked the second time in three meetings Sunday that Lewis defeated NKU in the double-elimination tournament. In the opener Sunday, the Flyers edged NKU, 1-0, on Debbie Peterson’s pinch-hit RBI single in the top of the eighth inning.
NKU responded by defeating Southern Indiana, 15-7, in an elimination game as Ricki Rothbauer and Rachele Vogelpohl each collected four hits. Angie Lindeman went 2-for-5 with five RBI for NKU, which rallied from a 5-2 deficit early in the contest.
Sara Becker was 2-for-5 with two RBI, and Heather Cotner added two hits for the NKU attack. The Norse scored five times in the top of the seventh inning to seal the win over Southern Indiana.
In the first game of the championship round, NKU outlasted Lewis, 1-0, in 15 innings. Krystal Lewallen upped her record to 28-3 with the complete-game shutout. Becky Napier was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 15th inning to win the game for NKU.
Lewallen struck out nine Lewis batters in the 15-inning marathon and has a school-record 272 strikeouts going into the NCAA Tournament. She also has 16 shutouts this spring and a 0.28 earned run average.
The Norse are expected to be the No. 1 seed in the NCAA II Great Lakes Regional this week. Pairings for the NCAA Division II Tournament will be announced Monday.
If NKU maintains its No. 1 ranking in the NCAA Division II Great Lakes Region poll, the Norse will play host to the NCAA Tournament May 6-9.
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CLICK HERE FOR GAME 2 BOX SCORE
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Rachele Vogelpohl |