{"id":230704,"date":"2026-03-22T01:46:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-22T01:46:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/230704\/"},"modified":"2026-03-22T01:46:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-22T01:46:09","slug":"norse-take-series-over-oakland-in-horizon-league-opener-the-northerner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/230704\/","title":{"rendered":"Norse take series over Oakland in Horizon League opener \u2013 The Northerner"},"content":{"rendered":"

Entering the top of the seventh inning in game one of NKU\u2019s three-game set against Oakland, the Norse were clinging to a 2-0 lead. The NKU pitching staff had been lights out up to this point, but were desperate for one more scoreless inning to secure the win in their first conference matchup.<\/p>\n

With Makaree Chapman on the mound after being summoned in the sixth to work around a one-out base runner, the freshman had the team on her back, facing the heart of the Oakland lineup.<\/p>\n

After the first three batters, Oakland had put two runners on with just one out, allowing the game-tying run to step up to the plate in Oakland\u2019s Autumn Liebhauser.\u00a0<\/p>\n

After getting ahead to a 0-2 count, Chapman threw two straight balls to even it up. With her heart beating a mile a minute, Chapman put her all into the next pitch that nicked the corner of the zone, forcing a swing and miss for the second out of the inning.<\/p>\n

Three pitches later, Chapman would get out of the jam, tallying her third save of the season and the Norse win.<\/p>\n

NKU hosted the Oakland Golden Grizzlies on Friday, March 20. and Saturday, March 21. in the Horizon League opener. The Norse entered the series 11-12, desperate to get over the hump and crest the .500 mark.<\/p>\n

Game One<\/p>\n

In game one, graduate student Alicia Flored took the mound, sitting at 3-3 on the season. Flores, a valued starter for NKU, tossed two complete games in Feb. and looked to have yet another good start.<\/p>\n

Flores pitches 5.1 innings against Oakland, striking out four on five hits, allowing the Norse offense to get to work.<\/p>\n

NKU got on the board in the fourth inning, when senior Brielle DiMemmo and sophomore Brooke Keltner went back-to-back to plate two. The Norse only had four hits, but they made the best of them with two going out of the yard.<\/p>\n

NKU pitched themselves out of any Oakland hit sprees, giving up seven hits and no runs. Flores was pulled in the sixth, but Chapman took a page out of Flores\u2019 book, keeping the shutout intact.<\/p>\n

The Norse pulled out the victory 2-0, getting off to a good start in the series.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>NKU softball head coach Morgan Gerak getting her team together after their win in game one. (Naeun Kim)<\/p>\n

Game Two<\/p>\n

In game\u202ftwo, the Norse\u2019 bats came alive early, putting five runs on the board in the first two innings. The fireworks began in the first, as DiMemmo and Keltner went back-to-back for the second consecutive game, immediately setting the tone.<\/p>\n

Freshman Kenzie Gulley followed with an RBI single, and Jena Rhoads extended the lead with an RBI triple, giving NKU a comfortable cushion.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Oakland responded with a run in the third and added two more in the sixth, but the Norse stayed steady, adding runs in both the fifth and sixth innings to preserve a four-run lead heading into the top of the seventh.<\/p>\n

Entering the seventh, starter Abigail Byrd was still on the mound. After the first two batters popped out and grounded out, Oakland found its back against the wall.<\/p>\n

Byrd, clearly gassed from a complete game of work, the exhaustion began to lean heavily into her ability to locate, walking back-to-back batters.<\/p>\n

She finally got out of the inning after Oakland\u2019s Annabel Power lined one right to the third baseman, robbing her of an extra base hit and a much-needed run.<\/p>\n

With the win, NKU secured the series over Oakland heading into the final game of the Saturday doubleheader.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Freshman Abigail Byrd (6) winding up for her delivery. She pitched a complete game, surrendering three runs on four hits. (NKU Athletics)<\/p>\n

Game Three<\/p>\n

In game three, Oakland struck early, scoring two quick runs on three two-out hits before NKU even had a chance at bat. They added another in the fourth on a Kenna Bommarito RBI single, taking a 3-0 lead midway through the game.<\/p>\n

NKU finally responded in the seventh, plating a run on a DiMemmo bases-loaded walk, bringing the Norse within one hit of tying it with just one out remaining. Sophomore Marlee Loudermilk pinch ran, and Keltner stepped up in a tense at-bat. On a 1-0 pitch, she sent a high fly toward the wall, and fans rose to watch it soar. But the fielder, tracking it perfectly, made the catch and ended NKU\u2019s comeback hopes.<\/p>\n

The Norse dropped the final game, but came away with the series win, improving to 13-12 overall, and 2-1 in Horizon League play.<\/p>\n

NKU journeys to Dayton on Tuesday, March 24. in a short break before the bulk of conference play commences.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Entering the top of the seventh inning in game one of NKU\u2019s three-game set against Oakland, the Norse…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":230705,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[143,145,144],"class_list":["post-230704","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-oakland","tag-oakland","tag-oakland-headlines","tag-oakland-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/230704","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=230704"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/230704\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/230705"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=230704"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=230704"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=230704"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}