Phil Smith went 2-for-3 to lead the Norse offense on Saturday.
Box score
COLUMBUS, Ga. – Rain delayed the start to the Northern Kentucky University baseball game against No. 7 Columbus State on Saturday.
The rain, however, did not delay the Cougars offense as they defeated NKU 7-2.
The two teams were slated to play a doubleheader on Saturday but the rain shortened the day to a single game.
Drew Campbell struggled early for NKU and Columbus State jumped out to a 3-0 lead after the first inning.
Phil Smith started the second inning off with a double to left center and advanced to third as
Pat Williams grounded out to shortstop Kenny Miller.
Smith advanced home on a
Cody Cooper sacrifice fly to put the Norse on the scoreboard.
The Cougars answered with a run in the bottom of the inning to extend the lead to 4-1.
After five scoreless innings by both teams, NKU added another run in the top of the eighth inning.
Zac Asman reached base on a throwing error by Miller.
Max Colaner was hit by a pitch, advancing Asman to second.
Kris Hecktor singled to right field, and Asman scored the final run for the Norse.
The Cougars responded with three runs in the eighth to seal the victory and improve to 13-3 on the season.
Tyler Carpenter collected six strikeouts in a complete game effort for the Cougars. He only allowed four hits and one earned run. Carpenter improved to 3-1 on the season with the win.
Smith went 2-for-3 to lead the Norse offense.
Jim Ryan replaced Campbell after the first inning and went 4 1/3 innings for the Norse. He only surrendered one run and collected four strikeouts.
NKU fell to 3-6 overall.
The doubleheader between the two teams was moved to tomorrow afternoon. The first game is scheduled to start at 1 p.m.
