Brandon Wood (center) is greeted after hitting a home run against Drury.
Box score
SAUGET, Ill. – Three weeks ago, the Northern Kentucky University baseball team wasn't a lock to even qualify for the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament.
Now, the torrid Norse stand just one victory away from claiming the GLVC Tournament championship.
NKU continued its remarkable late-season run Saturday by posting a 7-4 win against Drury in the third round of the GLVC Tournament. The Norse have now won 15 of their last 16 games and will meet either Quincy or Southern Indiana for the GLVC title at 10 a.m. Sunday.
NKU improved to 34-18 with its seventh straight victory, and the Norse are ranked third in the latest NCAA Division II Midwest Region poll. NKU has won GLVC Tournament titles five times (2002, '04, '06, '08 and '09).
On Saturday,
Brandon Wood smashed a two-run homer, while teammates
Shannon McCormick and
Jake Morris each scored twice. The Norse also took advantage of five Drury errors to move into the championship round.
The fielding miscues by Drury ignited a four-run second inning by NKU. The Panthers committed three errors as the Norse built a 4-0 lead. Wood highlighted the inning with a two-run homer over the left-field wall. It was the first home run of the season for Wood.
NKU starter
Tim Clark went 5 1/3 innings and allowed seven hits and four runs.
Brent Wethington then relieved Clark and threw 3 2/3 innings of one-hit baseball to earn his third save.
Earlier in the GLVC Tournament, NKU had stopped Drury's 13-game winning streak. On Saturday, the Norse eliminated the Panthers (35-19) from the postseason event.
