Megan Owens

ST. LOUIS - Perfect.

That’s the only word to describe the Northern Kentucky University softball team this spring, and the Norse capped an unbeaten regular season Sunday by sweeping a doubleheader at Missouri-St. Louis by scores of 1-0 and 9-1.

The two wins gave NKU a 46-0 record, and the Norse also captured the Great Lakes Valley Conference regular-season championship with a 16-0 mark. The Norse’s 46-game winning streak is the longest in NCAA Division II softball history, and they became the first NKU athletics team to ever record a perfect regular-season record.

In the opener, Krystal Lewallen tossed a three-hit shutout and struck out 16 batters as NKU pulled out the 1-0 victory. Megan Owens had a run-scoring single in the second inning to drive in Heather Cotner for the game’s lone run.

Lewallen, who improved to 24-0 this season, allowed just three singles and did not walk a batter en route to her 15th shutout of the spring. The junior pitcher from Crestwood, Ky., upped her career record at NKU to 71-14.

In the second game, NKU capped its unbeaten regular season with a 9-1 victory. The Norse scored five runs in the first inning and cruised to the six-inning win.

Angie Lindeman and Becky Napier each had two RBI to lead NKU, which is ranked No. 1 nationally in the NCAA Division II poll. Ricki Rothbauer went 2-for-4 with a triple and two runs scored, while Stephanie Leimbach extended her hitting streak to 26 games with a 2-for-4 performance in the nightcap.

Leimbach, a senior center fielder from Hilliard, Ohio, also scored a run and had an RBI in the second contest. Her 26-game hitting streak is tied for 11th all-time in Division II history.

Sarah King was 2-for-4 and scored twice for NKU, which pounded out 14 hits in the second game. Cotner was 2-for-3 and scored a run for the Norse.

Emily Breitholle improved to 17-0 this season after scattering four hits and striking out five.

Top-seeded NKU will begin the GLVC Tournament at East Peoria, Ill., this Friday (May 6) against eighth-seeded Missouri-St. Louis at 11 a.m. (CST). The top-ranked Norse will enter the GLVC Tournament eyeing Arizona’s all-time collegiate mark of 47 consecutive wins from April 5, 1996 to March 23, 1997.