Week 11 Series Notes |
Atlantic Sun Weekly Notes
HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – The Northern Kentucky University baseball team resumes Atlantic Sun Conference play with a trip to Fort Myers, Fla., to take on Florida Gulf Coast University at Swanson Stadium for a three-game series.
NKU enters the weekend with an 8-32 overall record after Butler rallied for a 3-2 victory over the Norse on Wednesday. With NKU holding a 2-0 lead in the eighth, the Bulldogs brought home three runs in the bottom of the inning to take the lead for good.
Cody Kuzniczci finished 3-for-4 with a double and an RBI to lead the NKU offense.
Tim Clark pitched into the eighth inning in his second start of the season and struck out six batters while allowing two runs on three hits. The Norse are 3-12 in the A-Sun.
The series opens at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, followed by a contest on Saturday at 2 p.m. The two teams will conclude the series on Sunday with first pitch scheduled for noon. Live stats will be available at NKUNorse.com.
NKU and Florida Gulf Coast have never faced each other in baseball.
ABOUT FLORIDA GULF COAST: The Eagles are 22-16 overall and 8-7 in the A-Sun. FGCU lost back-to-back home games to Bethune-Cookman in midweek action. On Tuesday, Bethune-Cookman defeated FGCU 7-5 before pulling out an 8-7 victory in 10 innings on Wednesday. Last weekend, the Eagles won the first two contests against South Carolina Upstate by a score of 3-2 and both games went to extra innings. The Spartans avoided the sweep by defeating FGCU, 17-9, on Sunday.
Mike Reeves is batting .347 on the year to lead the Eagles. He has scored 28 times while batting in 16 runs. Brandon Bednar boasts a .343 batting average and leads the team in several offensive categories, including RBIs (36), doubles (12) and slugging percentage (.470).
Right-handed pitcher Ricky Knapp, the A-Sun Preseason Pitcher of the Year, leads the way on the mound for FGCU. He holds a 1.93 earned run average and 6-2 record on the year. He has only given up 14 earned runs over 65.1 innings of work. He has recorded 47 strikeouts while waking just 11 batters. Knapp has pitched one complete game this season and has combined for two shutouts.
KUZNICZCI'S HIT STREAK: Kuzniczci enters the weekend in the midst of a six-game hitting streak after going 2-for-4 against Butler on Wednesday. During his current streak, he has hit .360 while collecting five doubles, three RBIs and three runs. In addition, he has compiled a .407 on-base percentage and .560 slugging percentage.
On the season, Kuzniczci holds a .258 batting average. He leads the Norse with 11 doubles and ranks second on the team with 17 runs scored.
ASMAN MAKING AN IMPACT: Zac Asman led the Norse offense in last Sunday's 5-2 victory over Jacksonville after going 2-for-4 with two RBIs and three stolen bases. In the first inning, he successfully took both second and third base. Asman again swiped second the following frame.
He followed that up with a 1-for-2 performance on Wednesday against Butler after being walked and hit by a pitch. Asman recorded a sacrifice fly in the seventh inning that allowed
Josh Myers to score and stretch the NKU lead to 2-0. He also reached base in the top of the ninth when he sent a two-out single through the left side but was not able to score before the game ended.
CLEMENT CLOSING IN: Brad Clement only needs four more RBIs for 123 in his career as a Norse to move into a tie for ninth place on NKU's all-time list. Over his career at NKU, he has batted in 119 runs, including 20 this season after collecting one against Jacksonville last weekend. He recorded 29 as a sophomore and 50 last season. Clement is looking to tie the mark held by Dan Logan (1984-87) and Gary Flowerdew (1985-88). He needs just five more RBIs to catch Mike Pitzer (1994-98) in eighth place with 124.
COMPLETE GAME EFFORTS: Matt Jefferson and
Blake Bagshaw threw back-to-back complete games against Jacksonville and helped NKU capture its first conference series win of the season. Jefferson (1-6) allowed three runs on 10 hits, and he recorded five strikeouts and only walked one batter in a 4-3 victory on Saturday. Jefferson has now thrown three complete games in his career as a Norse.
Bagshaw (1-7) followed that up with a nine-inning performance on Sunday. He only surrendered two runs on five hits, recorded three strikeouts and did not walk a batter. It was also his third complete game at NKU and the first since the 2011 season.
The last time NKU pitchers put together consecutive complete games was May 19-20, 2011 during the NCAA Division II Midwest Region Tournament. Dave Middendorf led the Norse to a 1-0 victory over Quincy in the opening game after only surrendering two hits and striking out 15 batters. Andy Heston accomplished the feat the next day, as NKU defeated Missouri S&T, 3-2. Heston only allowed one earned run on six hits and collected six strikeouts.
SCHEDULE CHANGE: Due to the cancelation of the Saint Joseph's (Ind.) home game on Tuesday, the May 1 contest at Ohio State has been changed to a doubleheader. As a result of the change, first pitch is now scheduled for 3:05 p.m. instead of 12:05 p.m.
