Highland Heights, Ky. – Youngstown State split a doubleheader with Northern Kentucky on the final day of the regular season winning game one, 3-1, and dropping the nightcap, 10-9, in 10 innings on Saturday afternoon.
The Penguins improve to 24-25 overall and 12-10 in the Horizon League while the Norse improve to 19-29 overall and 13-9 in league play.
Youngstown State will be the No. 6 seed in the upcoming Horizon League Championships and will face the No. 3 seed Norse, Wednesday, May 10, at 3:30 p.m. Eastern in Green Bay, Wis.
In the opener, Avrey Schumacher went 2-for-3 with two runs batted in while Hailey Roach blasted a solo home run.
Junior Sophie Howell picked up her 14th win of the season after scattering five hits and striking out three.
In the nightcap, the Penguins rallied from an early 7-0 deficit to take a 9-8 lead, but the Norse scored the game-tying run in the bottom of the seventh and the game-winner in the bottom of the 10th.
Junior Sara Fessler went 2-for-5 with a home run while senior Hailey Roach went 2-for-4 and sophomore Taylor Truran went 2-for-5 with two runs batted in. Junior Hailey Niederkohr also belted a three-run home run.
Trailing 7-0 after two innings, the Penguins scored six times in the top of the third to get within one run. Roach led off the frame with a double to left field and scored on Megan Turner's single to center field. After Fessler singled up the middle, Niederkohr blasted a three-run home run to right field to cut the lead to 7-4.
Truran's two-out single through the left side plated Conchetta Rinaldi and Jillian Jakse to trim the Norse lead to 7-6.
Northern Kentucky added a run in the bottom half of the third to extended the lead to 8-6 after three innings.
The Penguins knotted the game at 8-8 with a two-run sixth inning. Elyssa Imler doubled, advanced the third on a flyout and scored on a wild pitch to cut the lead to 8-7. Fessler knotted the game up at 8-8 with a solo home run to left-center field.
Youngstown State took a 9-8 lead after Roach's two-out double to left-center field plated pinch-runner Sydney Payne.
The Norse knotted the game with a run in the bottom of the seventh and won the game with a score in the bottom of the 10th.
