Northern Kentucky University Athletics

Week 9 Series Notes | Live stats | Live audio

April 11-13
Highland Heights, Ky. – Bill Aker Baseball Complex (300)
NKU (10-20, 4-5 Atlantic Sun) vs. South Carolina Upstate (12-24, 2-10 A-Sun)
Series History: USCU leads 2-1
Last Meeting: USCU 4, NKU 1 (March 30, 2013)
 
HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – The Northern Kentucky University baseball team returns to the Bill Aker Baseball Complex this weekend for a three-game Atlantic Sun Conference series against South Carolina Upstate as the Norse continue its nine-game homestand.

Friday's opener, which was originally slated to begin at 3 p.m., has been moved up to a 1 p.m. start time due to weather concerns.  First pitch on Saturday is also scheduled for 1 p.m., and the two teams will meet in the series finale on Sunday at noon.  Links to live stats and John Asalon's audio broadcast will be available at nkunorse.com.

NKU enters the weekend 10-30 overall and 4-5 in the Atlantic Sun after dropping a 9-6 decision to Eastern Kentucky in midweek action at the UC Health Stadium in Florence, Ky.  Cole Bauml's hot bat continued as he finished 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles and a walk to lead the Norse offense, while Kyle Colletta went 1-for-2 with one run scored, one walk and was hit by a pitch.  Zac Asman scored twice and Logan Spurlin drove in two runs for NKU as well.

USC Upstate is 12-24 overall and 2-10 in the conference, as the Spartans captured two nonconference midweek games.  Tyler Lesch went 2-for-3 and scored a run to lead USC Upstate to a 3-2 victory over Winthrop on Tuesday before Daniel Seeba's 2-for-3 performance helped the Spartans defeat the College of Charleston, 2-1, on Wednesday.

Center fielder Erik Samples, who has miss the last four games, leads the USC Upstate offensive attack, batting .309 with a team-leading 13 doubles and two home runs.  He has batted in 23 runs and scored 19 times.  Right fielder Lesch holds a .308 batting average and has collected six doubles and two triples with 19 runs and 15 RBIs.  Lesch leads the team with seven stolen bases, while first baseman Zach Krider has knocked in a team-high 24 runs as he is batting .264 for the Spartans.

Right-handed pitcher Eric Birklund is expected to take the mound on Friday against NKU.  He holds a 6.53 earned run average and is looking for his first win of the season.  He has struck out 17 batters in 30.1 innings of work, while lefty David Roseboom, Saturday's starter, leads the team with 36 strikeouts.  Roseboom has compiled a 4.02 ERA and a 2-5 record over 47 innings on the mound for the Spartans.  On Sunday, the Norse will face right-hander Zac Manuppelli, who holds a 5.29 ERA and 3-4 record with 15 strikeouts and 19 earned runs in 32.1 innings.

NKU/USC UPSTATE SERIES: USC Upstate holds a 2-1 record in the all-time meeting between the two teams, with all three matchups coming during NKU's inaugural NCAA Division I season last year.  The Norse took the opener by a score of 5-3 before the Spartans used a 5-4 victory and a 4-1 win to take the series in Spartanburg, S.C.

Logan Spurlin went 2-for-8 from the plate during the three-game series and scored one time, while Josh Myers scored once, was walked twice, hit by a pitch two times and stole a base.  Aric Harris scattered three hits over five scoreless innings for the victory in the opener.

Tyler Lesch went 3-for-11 with one run scored, one walk and two doubles for USC Upstate.  David Roseboom pitched 6.1 innings in the second game, and he allowed three earned runs on six hits with nine strikeouts for the win.

A-SUN HOT BATS:  NKU boasts seven players batting .300 or better against Atlantic Sun opponents, led by Caleb Kellogg's .381.  He has collected two doubles, one triple and one home run in conference play, while Logan Spurlin holds a .370 batting average with three triples, one home run, seven RBIs and eight runs scored.

Josh Myers is hitting at a .360 clip in Atlantic Sun action, and he has collected two doubles, one triple, two RBIs and three runs scored.  Zac Asman is batting .353 over the first nine conference games with three doubles, one triple, four RBIs and 10 runs.  Asman has also successfully stolen four bases in as many attempts against Atlantic Sun teams.

Cole Bauml holds a .313 batting average against the other teams in the conference, and he has batted in eight runs while scoring six times.  Quint Heady is batting .308 with three runs scored, while Cody Kuzniczci rounds out the .300 hitters, hitting .300 with three doubles, one home run, six RBI and 10 runs.

BAUML HONORED:  Cole Bauml was named the College Sports Madness Atlantic Sun Conference Player of the Week after he helped NKU capture three wins last week.  Bauml batted .462 to lead the Norse attack after starting the week going 1-for-2 against Ball State with an RBI double that gave NKU an early 2-1 advantage on Wednesday. 

Bauml opened Saturday's doubleheader against Stetson with a 2-for-4 effort.  In the opener, he hit a three-run home run and a two-run double after recording a sacrifice fly to record a career-high six RBIs as the Norse defeated the Hatters, 16-8.  In the night cap, he went 1-for-3 with a run scored and an RBI.  Bauml closed the weekend with a 2-for-4 performance on Sunday as he finished the week with nine RBIs, two doubles, two runs scored and one home run.

The junior center fielder from Muenster, Saskatchewan, is the first NKU baseball player to be recognized with the weekly award.

WRIGHT A-SUN STARTS:  Wendell Wright's performance on the mound has improved since starting Atlantic Sun play.  He has earned three starts for the Norse against conference opponents, and he has recorded a 4.64 ERA and a 2-1 mark.  Wright has allowed 11 earned runs with five strikeouts over 21.1 innings of work, including a scoreless six-inning performance against Stetson last weekend.

Against non-conference opponents, Wright has a 6.43 ERA over 14 innings on the mound.  He has allowed 19 runs, 10 earned, and struck out seven batters in seven appearance.  On the year, Wright has compiled a 5.35 ERA and 2-2 record with one save, 12 strikeouts and 21 earned runs over a total of 35.1 innings of work.

CURRENT STREAKS:  NKU has two players currently with hitting streaks of 10 or more games.  Logan Spurlin has collected hits in the last 15 games for the Norse, and he has reached based in the last 32 games he has appeared in, dating back to last season.  Caleb Kellogg, who has missed the last four games, holds an 11-game hitting streak and 12-game on-base streak.

Jordan Procyshen holds the team's second longest reached base streak at 19 games after collecting a single against Eastern Kentucky.  Zac Asman has collected hits in six consecutive games and has reached base in the last 14 contests for NKU.

WEEKEND PROMOTIONS:  Fans will have the opportunity to participate in #SundayFunday Bingo, presented by Toppers Pizza, at every Sunday game this season, including the series finale against USC Upstate.  Bingo cards will be available upon entrance into the complex and are based on plays occurring during the game.  The first two fans to complete their cards will receive a gift card to Toppers Pizza.