NKU hosts Southern Indiana for a four-game series starting Friday.
HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – The Northern Kentucky University baseball team returns home this weekend for a four-game series against Great Lakes Valley Conference East Division foe Southern Indiana at the Bill Aker Baseball Complex.
The two teams will take the field for a single game on Friday at 3 p.m., followed by a doubleheader on Saturday. The first game is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. The series will wrap up on Sunday with a single contest, which is slated for a noon start.
The Norse are 13-9 record overall, 6-2 in the GLVC.
NKU enters the weekend on a six-game win streak after sweeping Missouri-St. Louis and Maryville last weekend in St. Louis.
Southern Indiana is currently 13-8 overall, 4-4 in the GLVC after dropping a doubleheader against Quincy on Sunday.
LAST TIME AGAINST SOUTHERN INDIANA: Southern Indiana won three out of four games against NKU in Evansville, Ind., last season. The Screaming Eagles claimed a 5-2 victory in a single game against the Norse on April 8.
On Saturday, NKU jumped out to an early 4-0 lead in the first game and cruised to an 8-1 victory.
Dave Middendorf improved to 4-2 on the season with his complete game performance. He only allowed one run and collected seven strikeouts.
Brad Clement,
Brett Cisper,
Brian Erie and
Shannon McCormick all went 2-for-4 to lead the Norse.
Southern Indiana used a 4-2 victory to earn a split on the day and won the series by defeating NKU, 7-2, on Sunday.
Southern Indiana holds a 46-43 advantage over NKU in the all-time series.
SMITH STAYS CONSISTENT: Phil Smith batted .438 to lead the Norse to four victories last weekend. He added five runs, seven RBIs, four doubles and a home run.
He went 3-for-3 with one run scored and two RBIs to lead Northern Kentucky University to a 5-4 victory over Maryville in Game 2 to complete the doubleheader sweep on Sunday.
Smith is currently tied for first place in the GLVC with Southern Indiana's B.J. Willis with eight doubles on the season. His .390 batting average places him in seventh within the conference.
CLEMENT COMES THROUGH: Brad Clement finished 4-for-8 against Missouri-St. Louis on Saturday. He collected four RBIs and two runs, including his second double of the season.
Clement went 3-for-5 in Game 2 as the Norse cruised to a 12-5 win. His single in the fifth inning gave NKU the lead for good after falling behind 5-0 early in the game.
He is currently batting .321 on the season and leads the team in hits (27) and RBIs (19).
