Week 2 Notes |
Atlantic Sun Weekly Release
HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – The Northern Kentucky University baseball team will travel to Nashville, Tenn., this weekend for a three-game series against Saint Louis at the Old Timers baseball field at Shelby Park.
NKU enters the weekend seeking its first win of the season after dropping four games last weekend at Lamar. The Norsetook a 6-5 lead over the Cardinals into the bottom of the ninth inning in the opening game, but Sam Bumpers singled down the left-field line to bring tworuns home and spoil NKU's chance for victory.
First pitch between NKU and Saint Louis is set for 3 p.m. on Friday afternoon. The games on Saturday and Sunday are both scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. NKU and Saint Louis have never met in baseball.
Live stats and broadcast information are available at NKUNorse.com.
ABOUT SAINT LOUIS: The Billikens are 2-1 after an opening series against Oral Roberts in Tulsa, Okla., last weekend. Saint Louis, the preseason favorite to capture the Atlantic 10 Conference title, posted a 4-2 victory over the Golden Eagles on Friday and cruised to an 11-4 win on Saturday. Oral Roberts avoided the sweep with a 5-0 decision on Sunday.
Saint Louis is paced offensively by catcher Grant Nelson, who is batting .455 after three games. He collected a double and a home run against Oral Roberts.
On the mound, the Billikens are led by right-handed pitcher Alex Alemann. Alemann, who was named the A-10 Preseason Pitcher of the Year by several media outlets, collected a 1.50 earned run average with three strikeouts last weekend. He only surrendered one run in six innings of work.
Last season, Saint Louis finished 41-18, breaking the school record for victories.
MEMORABLE FIRST HIT: Brad Clement recorded the first hit in NKU's Division I era against Lamar on Friday. In the fourth inning, he hit a home run over the right-field wall to tie the game at 1-all.
Clement leads the Norse offense with a .429 batting average and a .643 slugging percentage after the opening series. He collected at least one hit in each of NKU's first four games.
VANDERGLAS MAKES HITS COUNT: Bradley Vanderglas made the most out of his hits last weekend against Lamar and is batting .500 with runners in scoring position. He leads the team with four RBIs on the season.
He finished 2-for-4 with three RBIs on Friday in the opening game of the series. His double in the fifth inning allowed
Quint Heady to score and brought the Norse to within one (3-2). In the top of the ninth, he tripled, bringing home
Barrett Arnold and
Ryan Hinz togive NKU a 6-5 lead going into the bottom of the inning.
Vanderglas singled to center field on Sunday, and Heady scored to cut the Lamar lead to 2-1 in the second inning.
EXTRA-BASE HITS: Josh Myers began the season collecting an extra-base hit in each of NKU first three games. Myers doubled in the seventh inning on Friday, which set him up to eventually score and tie the game.
He opened the fourth inning with a triple down the right-field line in the opener on Saturday. He later scored, tying the game at 3-all, and he followed with a double in the nightcap.
Myers is currently batting .286 and successfully stole two bases in as many attempts.
BAGSHAW ON THE MOUND: Blake Bagshaw was solid on the mound for NKU last weekend against Lamar. He only surrendered two run on eight hits and struck out two batters over six innings of work. He leads the Norse with a 3.00 ERA.
