Box scores
UIndy 3, NKU 0
NKU 6, UIndy 3

HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky.-  The Greyhound softball team split a Great Lakes Valley Conference doubleheader at Northern Kentucky Saturday, getting a one-hit gem in the opener before falling in the nightcap.  Senior Megan Russell struck-out 15 Norse batters and allowed just a fourth-inning single in UIndy's 3-0 win but the Norse responded with a 6-3 win in game two.

Russell continued her streak of impressive pitching performances with her game one heroics.  In her last three outings coming into the day, the senior had given up just eight hits over 17.1 innings with 24 Ks, all three of them for wins, including a five-inning perfect game against Kentucky Wesleyan exactly one week ago.  She improved on those numbers, squandering just one baserunner in the entire first game, baffling the Norse lineup and matching her season-high in single-game strikeouts.

She did her damage at the plate as well, going 2-for-2 with a run and an RBI, reaching base in all four plate appearances.   Ashley Boxley drove Russell in to score the game's first run in the fourth and Carmen Martinez followed with a run-scoring hit.  Russell drove in the third run of the game the next inning with a single to the left side scoring Kelsey Rummel, who had bunted for a hit to open the frame.

Russell got the nod in the circle for game two as well after her dominating performance in the opener.  She looked poised to match the game-one effort, holding NKU off the scoreboard through the first two innings.  In the third, UIndy grabbed the lead, plating three runs-- all with two outs.  Chrissy Stephens cashed-in the runs on a bases-loaded single, driving-in two with another coming around on an error on the play.

That would have figured to be enough for Russell but NKU chipped away at the lead, scoring one in the third and two more in the fourth to re-tie the score.  After the first three batters reached in the fifth, Jennifer DeMotte came on in relief to help minimize the damage.  Just one runner came home that inning, but NKU grabbed two more runs in the sixth to take control of the game and salvage a split in a huge matchup of teams near the top of the standings in the league.

Russell took the loss in game two, putting her record at 14-7 for the year.  Just one of the four runs allowed were earned with six hits and five Ks in 4.0 innings.  Jamie Keltz had the other two Greyhound hits, going 2-for-4 in the leadoff spot. 

UIndy (27-12, 17-5 GLVC) will step outside of league play for the final time this season with a Tuesday doubledip at Hillsdale.  First pitch is slated for 3:00 p.m.

Notes:  Russell has notched double-digit strikeout totals six different times this season and her 15 in game one matched her season high ... She has 17 games with at 10+ strikeouts in her career ... Russell is just 13 Ks shy of the UIndy career mark set by Beth Wendlinger from 2003-06 ... With three stolen bases today, UIndy has now swiped 22 straight bags without being caught and is 43-of-44 as a team this season ... UIndy's co-stolen base leader this season, Keltz, is 12-for-12 and has never been caught stealing in her career (51-for-51) ... The Greyhounds' current 17-5 league mark ties last year's school-record for conference win in a season.