Northern Kentucky University Athletics

Week 9 Midweek Notes | Live stats | Live audio

Wed., April 9
Florence, Ky. – UC Health Stadium
NKU (10-19, 4-5 Atlantic Sun) vs. Eastern Kentucky (14-17, 5-7 OVC)
Series Record: EKU leads, 15-11-1
Last Meeting:  NKU 13, EKU 11 (March 19, 2014)
 
HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – The Northern Kentucky University baseball team takes its homestand to the UC Health Stadium in Florence, Ky., on Wednesday for a nonconference matchup with Eastern Kentucky at 2 p.m.
 
NKU, which has won four out of its last five games, improved to 10-19 overall after taking two out of three contests against Atlantic Sun Conference foe Stetson at the Bill Aker Baseball Complex last weekend.  After Friday's opener was postponed due to inclement weather, the Norse cruised to a 16-8 victory in the first game of Saturday's doubleheader before posting an 8-0 win in the nightcap – NKU's first NCAA Division I shutout effort.  The Hatters avoided the sweep, taking the series finale by a score of 6-2 on Sunday.  The Norse are now 4-5 in the Atlantic Sun.
 
Cole Bauml led the Norse offense over the weekend, going 5-for-11 with two runs, one double, one home run and eight RBIs. Cody Kuzniczci collected six hits and scored five times against Stetson.  Wendell Wright, Alex Bolia, Evan Korson and Caleb Lonkard each recorded scoreless outings to combine for Saturday's shutout in the nightcap.  Wright went six innings and only surrendered four hits while striking out two.
 
Eastern Kentucky is 14-17 overall before traveling to Marshall on Tuesday and holds a 5-7 mark in the Ohio Valley Conference.  The Colonels' bats came alive in the finale of their three-game conference series against Morehead State over the weekend, as EKU defeated the Eagles, 9-6, on Sunday.  Morehead State won the series opener on Friday, 4-3, and used a 6-4 victory on Saturday to ensure the weekend win.
 
Kyle Nowlin holds a .318 batting average to lead the Colonels, who will be looking to avenge a 13-11 extra-innings loss to NKU earlier this season.  He leads the team with 11 doubles, six home runs and 26 runs scored.  Bryan Soloman is hitting .308 with eight doubles, four home runs and 20 RBIs, while Sean Hagen and Ben Fisher have batted in a team-leading 22 runs each.  Nowlin and Hagen are also threats on the base path, as they have stolen 11 bases each this season.
 
Right-handed pitcher Brian Mroz is expected to make his third collegiate start against the Norse on Wednesday.  He boasts a 4-0 record and has compiled a 3.44 earned run average over eight appearances.  Mroz has collected seven strikeouts and walked seven batters in 18.1 innings on the mound.  Righty Logan Hershenow has made a team-high 16 appearances out of the bullpen for the Colonels and holds a 4.64 ERA with 14 strikeouts over 21.1 innings of work.
 
Admission to Wednesday's contest at the UC Health Stadium will be $3.  Links to live stats and John Asalon's audio broadcast will be available at nkunorse.com.
 
EARLIER THIS SEASON: Caleb Lonkard and Logan Spurlin both hit run-scoring doubles in the top of the 11th inning as NKU pulled out a wild 13-11 win at EKU on March 19.  The Colonels now hold a 15-11-1 record in the all-time series.
 
Tied at 11-all in the 11th inning, Lonkard's RBI double plated Josh Myers with the go-ahead run. Spurlin later added an insurance run by driving in Lonkard with a double. Myers had led off the inning with a walk and advanced to second on a sacrifice by Brad Bohlen.
 
NKU had to withstand two late EKU rallies that erased Norse leads to extend the game. After watching EKU score seven times in the bottom of the ninth inning - capped by Kyle Nowlin's grand slam - to overcome a 9-2 deficit and send the game into extra innings, NKU's Jordan Procyshen drew a one-out walk in the 10th and was replaced by pinch-runner Barrett Arnold.
 
One out later, Cole Bauml stepped to the place and hammered a home run over the fence in right field to give the Norse an 11-9 lead.  EKU, however, countered with a two-run homer from Taylor Blair in the bottom of the 10th to even the score at 11-all.
 
Bauml went 4-for-6 with three runs scored and three RBIs to lead NKU. Kyle Colletta and Dominic Faron each added three hits and two RBIs for the Norse, while Zac Asman also drove in two runs. 
 
Jake Shaw recorded the win for NKU, while Wendell Wright picked up a save by pitching a scoreless 11th inning.
 
AGAINST THE OHIO VALLEY CONFERENCE:  NKU is now 32-60-2 all-time against members of the Ohio Valley Conference.  The Norse have faced six opponents from the OVC and hold a winning record over Tennessee Martin (1-0).  In addition to Eastern Kentucky's 15-11-1 and Morehead State's 17-7 lead in the series, Belmont (1-0), Southern Illinois Edwardsville (24-13-1) and Tennessee Tech (2-0) each lead series against NKU.
 
NKU defeated Eastern Kentucky, 13-11, in 11 innings on March 19 in Richmond, Ky., and cruised to a 7-3 victory over Morehead State at the Bill Aker Baseball Complex the following week to improve to 2-0 this season against OVC teams.  After Wednesday's contest, the Norse will travel to Morehead State on April 30 to end play against the OVC this season.
 
D-I FIRSTS AND RECORDS: NKU set several new NCAA Division I program records over the weekend.  The Norse put together their first four-game winning streak, their longest since beginning the transition, starting with a 13-11 victory over East Tennessee State on March 30.  NKU also recorded its first shutout, an 8-0 victory over Stetson in the nightcap of Saturday's doubleheader.
 
The Norse posted two eight-run victories in Saturday's doubleheader, 16-8 and 8-0, respectively, for the largest margin of victory as a Division I program.  The 16 runs also set a new benchmark for the team, whose previous high in run total was 13 set twice this season.  NKU collected 20 hits in the opener on Saturday to equal its D-I hit record set against Eastern Kentucky in 11 innings on March 19.
 
ON THE RISE:  After being held to just one hit between the series finale against North Florida on March 23 to the end of the East Tennessee State series on March 30, Cole Bauml broke out of his hitting slump in a big way over NKU's four games last week.  He batted .462 on the week with nine RBIs, two doubles and a home run. 
 
The junior from Muenster, Saskatchewan, started the week going 1-for-2 against Ball State with an RBI double that gave NKU an early 2-1 advantage on Wednesday.  Bauml then opened Saturday's doubleheader against Stetson with a 2-for-4 effort from the plate 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 Game 2, he went 1-for-3 with a run scored and an RBI, and Bauml closed the weekend with a 2-for-4 performance on Sunday.
 
SOLID OUTING ON THE MOUND:  Wendell Wright put together his most impressive outing at NKU in the nightcap of Saturday's doubleheader.  In his fourth start of the season, Wright pitched six innings and scattered just four hits.  He did not surrender a run, and he struck out two batters to set the Norse up for their first Division I shutout.
 
Alex Bolia relieved Wright in the seventh inning and only walked one batter before Evan Korson took over in the eighth for the Norse.  Korson did not allow a hit and walked just one Hatter in his scoreless effort.  Caleb Lonkard threw eight pitched to record a perfect ninth inning and ensure the shutout effort for the NKU pitching staff.
 
CURRENT STREAKS:  Five NKU players boast on-base streaks of 10 or more games.  Logan Spurlin has reached base in every game he has appeared in this season and 31 consecutive contests, dating back to last year.  While Jordan Procyshen's hitting streak was halted against Stetson on Sunday afternoon, he was hit by a pitch to safely reach base in the last 18 games for the Norse.
 
Zac Asman has touched first base in 13 straight contests for the Norse, while Caleb Kellogg's on-base streak has reached 12 games.  Cody Kuzniczci lead-off single in the second inning against Stetson on Sunday helped him reach base in the past 10 contests for the Norse.
 
Spurlin also holds the team's longest hitting streak, having recorded at least a single in each of the NKU's last 14 games.  Kellogg follows at 11 and Kuzniczci has now recorded hits in eight consecutive games for the Norse.