One of the top sluggers in the Mid-American Conference once again proved to be a nemesis to Kent State at the worst possible time Thursday.
Northern Illinois’ Emily Naegele provided all the scoring with a fourth-inning home run off ace right-hander Ronnie Ladines in a 2-0 victory over the Golden Flashes in a second-round game of the MAC softball tournament at Firestone Stadium.
Naegele was already well-known to the Flashes after swatting three home runs in a three-game set at DeKalb, Ill., earlier this season, although KSU won two of those games.
This time it was much more painful and left top-seeded KSU (36-21) facing an elimination game against the winner of Thursday’s late game between Akron and Toledo at 1 p.