Freshman pitcher Sarah Newland tossed a three-hit shutout Saturday as the Northern Kentucky University softball team completed a doubleheader sweep of Marian (Ind.) College with a 2-0 victory at the Frank Ignatius Grein Softball Field.

Newland struck out three batters and improved to 5-0 this season. NKU scored single runs in the fourth and fifth innings to extend its win streak to eight consecutive games.

In the opener, NKU pushed across a run in the bottom of the 13th inning to defeat Marian, 3-2. Norse pitcher Krystal Lewallen finished with 17 strikeouts and went the distance to pick up her 15th victory of the season.

Amanda Davidson drove in Megan Owens with the winning run as NKU improved to 31-11.

Crystal Wilson went 3-for-5 to lead the NKU offense, while Owens and Heather Cotner each had two hits. Davidson collected two RBIs for NKU.

NKU will play host to the College of Mount St. Joseph at 3 p.m. Thursday. The Norse will then hit the road for Great Lakes Valley Conference doubleheaders at The University of Wisconsin-Parkside and Lewis University next weekend.

NKU (13-3 GLVC) is currently tied for first place in the GLVC with Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville, but the Norse can wrap up the No. 1 seed and the right to host the GLVC Tournament by sweeping both Wisconsin-Parkside and Lewis.