Game 1:
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Game 2:
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TROY, Ala. –
Jake Shaw struck out six of the 11 batters he faced to help the Northern Kentucky University baseball team hold on for its first win of the 2014 season, a 6-5 victory over Troy. The victory gave the Norse a split in the doubleheader and eased some of the sting from a 6-2 loss in the opener.
The Norse pitching staff struck out 16 batters, the most ever for NKU in a Division I game.
Aric Harris punched out eight batters in four innings in the start, while
Alex Bolia (1-0) added a pair of strikeouts in two innings of relief, earning his first career win. Shaw's six strikeouts over 2.2 innings gave the freshman his first career save.
Kyle Colletta and
Zac Asman each posted 2-for-4 games at the plate to help a Norse offense that posted eight hits in the win.
Logan Spurlin had an RBI-double and walked twice as well as NKU moved to 1-2 on the season.
David Hall went 2-for-2 and walked three times for the Trojans, driving in two runs and scoring another. Trevin Hall and Matthew Howard also had two-hit games for Troy (2-1). On the mound, the loss fell to Austin Sullivan (1-0), who gave up two runs in less than an inning of work, as Troy used five pitchers in the contest.
The Norse struck quickly in the nightcap, plating a pair of runs on a
Cody Kuzniczci bases-loaded single to left field. Coletta and
Jordan Procyshen came in on the hit.
Quint Heady extended the Norse lead on an RBI double to left field in the second inning that brought
Zac Asman around to score.
Troy leveled the game in the bottom of the fourth inning on David Hall's second home run of the season, an opposite-field shot that scored Trevin Hall as well, who reached on a dropped third strike. Kyle Brown followed up with a single before Harris surrendered three walks to bring in the tying run.
The Trojans took the lead in the bottom of the fifth on a Trevin Hall home run to right field, spelling the end of the day for Harris. Bolia came on in relief and induced a quick double play and Kuzniczci threw out Troy's Matthew Howard on a stolen base attempt to end the inning.
NKU rode the momentum to retake the lead in the sixth. Spurlin and Kuzniczci reached on a walk and a hit by pitch, respectively, to open the inning.
Josh Myers attempted to sacrifice the runners over, but the throw beat Spurlin to the bag at third base. Asman got the run home anyway with an RBI double to centerfield, scoring Kuzniczci to tie the game and moving Myers to third base. Myers then gave NKU the 5-4 lead when
Brad Bohlen reached on a throwing error by Troy third baseman Nick Masonia.
Spurlin extended the lead to 6-4 with a two-out RBI double to left, scoring Heady. Masonia atoned for his error in the eighth inning with a two-out RBI of his own in the bottom of the eighth inning, bringing the margin to just one run.
Shaw bore down in the ninth inning after a leadoff walk, getting a strikeout against Jakob Nixon before inducing a pair of groundouts to end the game.
The opener saw Troy use the long ball to take an early advantage and never look back as Trevin Hall homered to the gap in left-centerfield in the bottom of the first inning. The Trojans added to the lead in the fifth inning on a David Hall run-scoring single followed by Garrett Pitts' RBI double to right-center field.
Procyshen hit his first home run in a Norse uniform in the sixth inning to cut the deficit to 3-1, and
Cole Bauml brought the Norse within a run with an RBI groundout, scoring Colletta, whose one-out double down the left-field line started the rally.
Troy added on in the seventh, however, when a passed ball and a dropped fly ball by the Norse plated a pair of Trojan runs and set the final score.
Spurlin and Coletta each had two-hit games in the early tilt, extending Spurlin's hitting streak to three games. Spurlin, Procyshen and Kuzniczci each take three-game streaks into Sunday's series-ending contest, while Coletta, Heady and Asman each have hits in their last two games.
Adam Jafine (0-1) took the loss for the Norse, striking out five while giving up three runs on six hits in 4.2 innings.
Wendell Wright surrendered three unearned runs in 2.1 innings of relief, while
Drew Campbell added an inning of scoreless work.
Shane McCain (1-0) got the win, scattering five hits over six innings while striking out nine Norse.
NKU will look to split the series against Troy on Sunday, when the Trojans send Will Starling up against a Norse pitcher to be determined. First pitch is set for 2 p.m. Links to live stats and John Asalon's broadcast will be available at nkunorse.com.
