Northern Kentucky Norse prove they belong in Knoxville
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Northern Kentucky softball came into the Knoxville Regional with something to prove to themselves and to outsiders looking in.
“We’re really just hungry for more now that we know we can do it,” Northern Kentucky pitcher Alicia Flores said. “I mean, we put up a fight against the seventh best team in the country, and whoever we play tomorrow, we’re ready.”
The fire has been fueled, and senior outfielder Jena Rhoads saw and heard the comments after the Norse received their selection to the Knoxville Regional.
“I think it’s kind of lighting a fire under us, too, because even before this game, people are like, ‘Oh yeah, like, we hope it goes five innings,’ or you’re getting texts like, ‘Oh my god, you guys are playing Tennessee,’ type of stuff like that,” Rhoads said.
Flores was the reason the Norse hung around. She went 6.0 innings, gave up three runs on eight hits, struck out one and walked three across 113 pitches. The Lady Vols left nine runners on base, missing chances earlier in the game to put real separation between the two.
Tennessee went just 2-for-9 with runners in scoring position. Northern Kentucky head coach Morgan Gerak credited her staff’s approach for keeping one of the Southeastern Conference’s most dangerous offenses uncomfortable.
“Our pitching staff prides ourselves on changing speeds, and I thought Alicia did a really great job with her changeup today,” Gerak said. “That really set the tone to kind of open up her curveball and her screwball to really spin through the zone.”
Flores knew Tennessee’s hitters would come out aggressive, and she leaned into it.
“We really talk about spinning ball through the zone, but not only that, changing speeds,” Flores said. “Just taking advantage of those really aggressive swings and just making sure that I’m spinning it through the zone, because I know that they’ll take a hack and hopefully mishit it.”
Going into the bottom of the sixth, the Norse were tied at one apiece and had kept a Tennessee team with capable hitters fairly quiet. The confidence was there.
The fight Northern Kentucky showed wasn’t a one-off either. The Norse weathered their own rough patch earlier in the season before turning it into a Horizon League championship.
“We had a similar situation through a rough patch in our season, and we just had a heart-to-heart and we were like, we’re not going to get beat down like this, and we’re just going to come back stronger,” Rhoads said. “And we did it, and we won our Horizon League championship.”
For Gerak, the way her team carried itself against the No. 7 overall seed wasn’t a surprise. It’s the standard she recruits to.
“We have a team full of fighters,” Gerak said. “I always say it doesn’t matter who you’re playing, it’s the same game.. There’s a grit factor that I look for when I recruit athletes, and this team has it. Regardless of who you’re going up against, I want you to compete the same way.”
Northern Kentucky will face the Indiana Hoosiers Saturday at 5:30 p.m. ET at Sherri Parker Lee Stadium. The game will be streamed on the ESPN App.
“I think that using this will just fuel the fire for tomorrow and really help us,” Rhoads said.
