Youngstown, Ohio — Youngstown State's softball team won both games of a doubleheader on Saturday to complete a three-game sweep of Northern Kentucky in a Horizon League series at the YSU Softball Complex.

After beating the Norse 17-3 on Friday, the Penguins won 9-5 and 7-5 on Saturday. Youngstown State improved to 17-12 overall and 5-1 in conference play with the doubleheader sweep.

Game One

In game one, Youngstown State scored the first seven runs and fought off an NKU rally for a 9-5 victory. The Penguins' nine runs came on 11 hits, which included a three-run homer by Emma Gilkerson in the third inning.

Gilkerson scored the game's first run on a two-out error in the top of the first, and her three-run blast came with one out in the third with Bella Meyer and Lydia Wilkerson on base. Meyer walked on a full count, and Wilkerson reached on an infield single. Gilkerson then sent the first pitch of her at bat over the fence in left field, giving the Penguins a 4-0 lead. Later in the inning, Kennedy Dean hit a two-out double and scored on Ayla Ray's RBI single.

YSU starter Kelsey Ogin retired the first six Norse batters, and she worked around back-to-back infield singles to start the third. A one-out walk was harmless in the top of the fourth, and the Penguins' offense got going again in the bottom of the fourth. Meyer and Wilkerson hit back-to-back one-out doubles to plate a run, and, following an infield single by Gilkerson, pinch-runner Tatum Werley raced home on a sacrifice fly by Tai Turner.

Jena Rhoads hit a two-out, two-run double to put the Norse on the board in the fifth, and NKU scored three runs on two hits in the sixth to get within 7-5. The Norse had the go-ahead run at the plate, but reliever Paiton Murphy struck out NKU leadoff batter Kenzie Gulley looking to end the threat. Northern Kentucky got a runner on with one out in the seventh, and Murphy posted back-to-back strikeouts to earn her first save.

Ogin earned the victory, allowing five runs on six hits over 5.1 innings. None of NKU's runs went on Murphy's record, and the freshman allowed two hits and a walk while striking out three batters in 1.2 innings.

Gilkerson finished 3-for-4 with four RBIs and two runs scored, and Wilkerson was 2-for-3 with a run and an RBI.

Game Two

NKU took a 1-0 lead seven pitches into game two as Gulley drew a leadoff walk and scored on a Rhoads double. YSU answered in the bottom of the second when Kennedy Dean walked and scored on Bree Kohler's two-out single, but the Norse pulled back ahead with a pair of two-out runs in the third. With a runner on second and two outs in the inning, NKU had back-to-back infield hits and ensuing errors that allowed two runs to score.

The Penguins answered with four runs in the second to take a 5-3 lead. Gilkerson hit a one-out single to spark the offense, and a throwing error from the pitcher trying to throw Gilkerson out at second gave YSU an extra out. Dean followed the error with an RBI single, and Ray's go-ahead two-run double on a full count plated Turner and Dean.  Three walks followed in the inning, allowing Ray to score an unearned run that put the Penguins up 5-3.

Turner walked and scored on a double steal in the bottom of the fourth as Youngstown State upped its lead to 6-3. The Norse got a run back in the fifth when Gulley led off with a double and scored on a single by Rhoads.

YSU added an insurance run in the bottom of the fifth when Kohler doubled and scored on a single by Leila Staszak. Peyton Mueller-Stenz hit an RBI double with one out in the seventh, and the Norse had the tying run at the plate but got no closer.

Kennedy Kimball earned the win the circle for the Penguins, holding NKU to three runs on six hits in five innings. Isabella O'Brien recorded the final six outs for YSU and struck out three batters to record the save.

Gilkerson and Kohler had  two hits apiece in the nightcap, while Turner and Dean both scored two runs.

Youngstown State will play a pair of midweek doubleheaders next week, starting with two contests at Mercyhurst on Tuesday. The Penguins will then host Bowling Green for a doubleheader on Wednesday at 3 p.m.