DeKALB – The Kent State softball team wanted nothing to do with Northern Illinois slugger Emily Naegele.
Coming into the game with a chance to break the Northern Illinois school record for home runs in a season, Naegele was walked four times – including twice intentionally – in four plate appearances. The strategy paid off for the Golden Flashes, who survived for a 4-3 victory in a thriller between two of the best teams in the conference on a windy but sunny Sunday afternoon at Mary M. Bell Field.
"I don't want to get on the bus after a loss and say it was the kid that's been killing us and we let her kill us," Kent State interim coach Eric Oakley said.