Week 7 Game Notes |
Atlantic Sun Weekly Release
HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – The Northern Kentucky University baseball team continues its Atlantic Sun Conference road trip this weekend with a series at South Carolina Upstate in Spartanburg, S.C., at the Cleveland S. Harley Baseball Park.
NKU is 2-22 overall, 0-3 in the A-Sun after Kennesaw State swept the Norse to open their A-Sun season, which saw the Owls outscore the Norse by a 41-9 margin. Kennesaw State cruised to a 12-1 victory to open the series on Friday night and defeated the Norse 15-4 and 14-4 on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.
The Norse enter the three-game series against USC Upstate looking to snap their current 16-game losing streak, the longest in school history. Both Thursday and Friday are scheduled for a 6 p.m. start, while Saturday is slated for 1 p.m. Live stats, broadcast and ASun.TV information are available at NKUNorse.com.
NKU and USC Upstate have never met in baseball.
ABOUT USC UPSTATE: The Spartans enter the series with a 13-9 overall record before hosting Wofford on Wednesday and 2-4 mark in the A-Sun. USC Upstate dropped two of three games to Jacksonville over the weekend, avoiding the series sweep with a 19-7 win on Sunday.
Brandon Patterson leads the USC Upstate offense, batting at a conference-best .431 clip on the year. He has collected 20 RBIs, 13 runs, seven doubles and one home run. The Spartans have five players batting .300 or better, including Trey Richardson who has hit a team-high five home runs.
The Spartans pitching staff is holding opposing batters to a .261 average, which ranks No. 3 in the conference. Relief pitcher Erik Samples has made 13 appearances this season and boasts a 0.49 ERA over 18 1/3 innings of work. He has struck out 18 batters while only allowing one earned run.
Outfielder and right-handed pitcher Gaither Bumgardner was chosen as the A-Sun's preseason player of the year after winning the same award following the 2012 season. Bumgardner holds a .266 batting average with 14 RBIs, 11 runs scored and two doubles. On the mound, he is 2-0 on the year and holds a 5.68 ERA in eight appearances, including one start. He is expected to start against the Norse on Saturday.
LEDGER COMING THROUGH: Conor Ledger went 4-for-9 (.444) during NKU's three-game series against Kennesaw State over the weekend. He finished with a .667 slugging percentage and .500 on-base percentage. He drove in three of NKU's four runs over the weekend. Ledger collected his first collegiate triple on Saturday, which drove in two run. His single in the third inning on Sunday brought
Caleb Lonkard home to tie the game at 2-all.
For the season, Ledger ranks third on the team with a .250 batting average. He has collected five RBIs and two runs in 13 appearances. He is batting .385 (5-for-13) with runners in scoring position and .389 (7-for-18) with two outs this season.
STREAKS SNAPPED: Brad Clement's on-base success to start the season came to an end against Kennesaw State on Friday, halting his streak at 24 games dating back to last year. He rebounded on Saturday, collecting two hits and scoring a run against the Owls before sitting out Sunday's game. Prior to that, Clement had started 138 consecutive games for NKU, every contest since transferring from Kansas State after his freshman season.
Clement leads the Norse with a .302 batting average. He has also recorded a team-high 12 RBIs and 26 hits, while sharing the lead with 10 runs scored and four doubles with
Zac Asman.
