YSU softball splits doubleheader at NKU

HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, KY. — Youngstown State scored six runs in the top of the seventh inning of game two for a 6-4 win to salvage a doubleheader split against Northern Kentucky on Wednesday . The Penguins lost game one, 9-0, in six innings.

With the split, the Penguins improve to 17-23 overall and 5-6 in the Horizon League while NKU moves to 10-26 and 4-7 in the league.

Trailing 1-0 through six innings, freshman Elizabeth Birkbeck and senior Brittney Moffatt each blasted two-run home runs to spark the surge. Freshman Tatum Christy gave the Penguins the lead with a run-scoring single and senior Sarah Dowd scored on an illegal pitch.

Dowd led off the inning with a double to left-center field and freshman Maddi Lusk's single to center put runners on the corners. Dowd scored on an illegal pitch to tie the game at 1-1 and Christy's single to center plated Lusk with the go-ahead run.

Birkbeck's pinch-hit home run to left field put the Penguins up 4-1 and, after junior Hannah Lucas' infield single, Moffatt drilled a two-run home run to right field to give the Penguins a 6-1 lead.

The Norse rallied for three runs in the bottom half of the inning, but senior Caitlyn Minney picked up a complete-game victory.

Moffatt and Lucas each had two hits for the Penguins in the nightcap.

In game one, Lucas tallied the Penguins' lone hit in the 9-0 loss.

The Penguins and Norse will conclude their three-game series with a single game at noon today.