HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – The Northern Kentucky University baseball team opens a four-game road trip by heading south to Richmond, Kentucky, to take on in-state rival Eastern Kentucky on Tuesday for its final nonconference tune up before the Norse start Atlantic Sun Conference play.
 
First pitch from Turkey Hughes Field is scheduled for 6 p.m.  Links to live stats and John Asalon's audio broadcast are available at NKUNorse.com.  Fans can also track the game's progress by following @NKUNorseGameDay on Twitter.
 
NKU improved to 9-14 overall with its first-ever Division I series sweep, topping Xavier in three games over the weekend.  The Norse scored seven runs over the first two innings in the series opener on Friday and held on for a 7-4 victory before coming from behind for a 10-5 win on Saturday.  Matt Jefferson struck out seven batters in a complete-game effort in the finale to help lead NKU to a 4-2 victory at the Bill Aker Baseball Complex.
 
Brad Bohlen paced the Norse offense against the Musketeers, going 6-for-9 (.667) with one double, one RBI and one run scored.  David Head and Kyle Colletta each batted .385 (5-for-13) and scored three times for NKU, and Colletta drove in a career-high four RBIs in the second game of the series.  Cody Kuzniczci went 5-for-14 (.357) and hit three doubles against Xavier.
 
ABOUT EKU: The Colonels are 7-16 on the year after dropping two of three games to Morehead State.  EKU held a 10-5 lead after the sixth inning of Friday's opener heading into the bottom of the eighth, but Morehead State answered with five runs to tie the game.  Mandy Alvarez hit a home run over the left-center field wall in the top of the 10th inning to lift the Colonels to the victory.
 
TJ Alas boasts a .409 batting average to go along with seven doubles, two triples and six home runs to lead the EKU offense, and he has driven in 15 runs and scored a team-leading 22 times.  Alvarez is batting .337 with six doubles and seven home runs, and he leads the team with 22 RBIs.  Kyle Nowlin has successfully stolen five bases in six attempts to lead the Colonels, and he is hitting .265 with four doubles, seven home runs, 16 RBIs and 14 runs scored.
 
The Norse are expected to face right-handed Matt Lynch.  Lynch brings a 2.79 earned run average over seven appearances and one start.  He has struck out 11 batters and walked six while allowing six runs, three earned, on 14 hits in 9.2 innings of work. Cameron Langfels has made 10 appearances out of the bullpen for EKU, going 3-1 with a 6.00 ERA and 12 strikeouts over 15 innings.
 
NKU-EKU SERIES: EKU holds a 15-11-1 advantage the all-time series with NKU.  The Norse dropped the first three games before posting a 2-0 victory during the 1973 season.  The rare tie of the series came in the second game of a doubleheader on March 28, 1978 with a score of 10-10.
 
After a 23-year hiatus, the two teams renew the rivalry last season.  NKU captured a 13-11 win in Richmond in 11 innings on March 19 on RBI doubles from Caleb Lonkard and Logan Spurlin.  EKU avenged its loss the following month, scoring four runs in the top of the ninth inning to claim a 9-6 win.
 
LAST SEASON AGAINST EKU: Kyle Colletta batted .667 (4-for-6) with two RBIs, two runs scored and one stolen base over NKU's two games with EKU last season, while Cole Bauml went 6-for-10 with three doubles, one home run, three RBIs and three runs scored.
 
Aric Harris pitched five innings and allowed just two earned runs on five hits in the start at EKU, and he struck out seven batters and walked three.  Adam Jafine earned the start in the second game of the season series, giving up one run on two hits with three strikeouts and one walk over three innings of work.  Wendell Wright, Evan Korson and Colletta each pitched one scoreless inning of relief against the Colonels.
 
Kyle Nowlin recorded a .455 batting average for EKU against the Norse last season, going 5-for-11 from the plate with one double, one home run, five RBIs, one run scored and one stolen base.  Kenny Hostrander went 3-for-7 (.429), drove in three runs and scored once, while Taylor Blair scored three times and batted in four runs with his four hits.
 
Ben Mroz pitched four innings in the start in Highland Heights, allowing just one run on four hits with one walk.  Ben Gullo took the mound against NKU in the first game of the season, and he went just 1.2 innings after surrendering three runs on five hits.  Gullo struck out three Norse batters.
 
OVER .300: NKU boasts five players batting over .300 this season.  Cole Bauml paces the Norse offense with a .398 batting average, and he leads the team in nearly every offensive category, including doubles (19), which also leads the nation, home runs (5) and stolen bases (8).  Caleb Lonkard is batting .326 with two doubles, one home run, four RBIs and 10 runs scored, while Brad Bohlen follows closely behind at .323.  Bohlen has recorded two doubles, driven in six runs and scored five times.
 
David Head is hitting .319 for the Norse with four doubles, one home run, eight RBIs and eight runs scored.  Trey Ganns holds a .306 batting average in his first season with the NKU, and he has collected four doubles and one home run while driving in 10 runs and scoring four times.
 
COMPLETE-GAME SUCCESS: Matt Jefferson recorded the first complete game of the 2015 season for NKU in Sunday's 4-2 victory over Xavier at the Bill Aker Baseball Complex.  He struck out seven batters and walked two to help lead the Norse to their first-ever NCAA Division I series sweep.  Jefferson gave up two runs on nine hits for his first victory of the season.
 
Over his last three outings, Jefferson has posted a 2.91 ERA and 1-0 record.  He has struck out 14 batters while walking five over 21.2 innings of work, and he has given up just seven runs on 23 hits.
 
The senior lefty from Indianapolis, Indiana, continues to lower his ERA, which is at 6.59, and he leads the team in strikeouts (32) and innings pitched (42.1).  Sunday marked the fifth complete-game performance of his career.  He currently sits fifth on NKU's career starts list with 39 and ninth all-time in innings pitched at 221.1.
 
UP NEXT: NKU opens Atlantic Sun Conference play with a trip to the sunshine state as the Norse face North Florida in Jacksonville, Florida, for a three-game series.  Thursday and Friday's action is scheduled for a 6 p.m. first pitch, while Saturday's finale is set for 1 p.m.  Links to live stats and John Asalon's broadcast are available at NKUNorse.com.