They didn’t make it easy on themselves losing the first game of the Horizon League Conference Tournament, but the Northern Kentucky University softball team put up a valiant effort in hopes of winning back-to-back conference tournament championships.
With a 7-2 loss to Robert Morris in the opening round, the Norse had no margin for error the rest of the double-elimination tournament. They started their improbable run with a 3-2 victory over IUPUI on Wednesday.
After being rained out on Thursday, they won two games on Friday, first a 7-4 victory over Oakland and then one over No. 1 seed Youngstown State, 6-3.
On Saturday, the Norse got revenge on Robert Morris with a 5-0 victory in the semifinals to advance to Sunday’s championship against Cleveland State, needing to beat the Vikings twice to reclaim the title.
They took the first matchup 5-4 and were tied at 1-1 in the fifth of the second matchup, a winner-take-all scenario and getting a bid into the NCAA tournament. But the Norse’s fate was met with a Vikings five-run bottom of the fifth as they prevailed 6-1 to take home the title.
Sydni Barnes, Lauryn Hicks, Ella LeMonier and Olivia Pastin were awarded All-Tournament team honors for their efforts.
The loss puts an end to NKU’s season with a 27-22 record. The 27 wins ties a Division I era record for most wins in a season.
