(GREEN BAY ATHLETICS) YOUNGSTOWN, OHIO – The Green Bay Phoenix softball team fell in extra innings in Friday’s Horizon League Championships winners bracket final, 4-3, against No. 2 Northern Kentucky.
The Norse’s Jena Rhoads broke a 3-3 tie with a one-out walk-off home run to give the Phoenix its first loss of the postseason. Green Bay will take on No. 3 Robert Morris tomorrow morning at 10 a.m. CST for a spot in the Horizon League Championship game.
Ava Schill (7-6) took the loss in the circle for Green Bay (16-30). The right-hander went all 7.1 innings, giving up four runs, all of them earned, on seven hits, allowing one walk and striking out three.
At the plate, the Phoenix was led by Emily Jones, who went 1-for-2 on the day with a double, a walk, and three RBIs. Paige Guse put together a standout performance at the plate as well, going 2-for-4 with a double.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Phoenix put runs on the scoreboard first, starting the scoring in the fourth inning. Jones picked up her first RBI of the day on a sacrifice fly that scored Anderson, who led off the top of the fourth with a triple.
The Norse then tied the ballgame at one in the bottom half of the fourth before the Phoenix came back to reclaim the advantage in the fifth inning. GB pushed two runs across on a two-run double off the bat of Jones that brought home Grace Kahr and Bella Herman, which brought the score to 3-1 in favor of the Phoenix. NKU would respond once again with a pair of runs in the bottom of the fifth. Neither team scored in the next two innings, forcing extras, where the Norse went on to win it.
GAME NOTES
» Both teams finished the game with seven hits.
» Schill faced 30 Northern Kentucky hitters in the game, allowing 10 ground balls and eight fly balls while striking out three.
» Northern Kentucky was led offensively by Jena Rhoads, who went 2-for-4 with a triple, a home run, and an RBI.
» Makaree Chapman led the Norse pitching staff, throwing 3.2 scoreless innings.
UP NEXT
The Phoenix is now in a win-or-go-home scenario Saturday, when they’ll take on No. 3 Robert Morris at 10 a.m. CST. The winner will play No. 2 NKU in the Horizon League Championship game at 12:30 p.m. CST. If the losers’ bracket team beat NKU, the bracket would reset, and the second Championship game would be played on Sunday, May 10.
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