HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – The Northern Kentucky University baseball team opens a nine-game road trip with an Atlantic Sun Conference series against Stetson in DeLand, Florida, at Melching Park this weekend.
 
Friday's opener is scheduled for a 6:30 p.m. start as Saturday's first pitch has been pushed back to 4 p.m.  The two teams will wrap up the series on Sunday at 1 p.m.  Links to live stats and John Asalon's broadcast are available at NKUNorse.com.  Fans can also keep up with the weekend's action by following @NKUNorseGameDay on Twitter.
 
NKU improved to 11-21 overall with a 3-1 victory over Maryville (Tenn.) on Wednesday to wrap up a five-game home stand for the Norse.  Tyler Miller struck out four batters and allowed just one run on four hits in a complete-game performance.  Clark Pence, Kyle Colletta and Quint Heady each recorded two-hit efforts to lead the NKU offense.
 
ABOUT STETSON: The Hatters are 19-19 overall after dropping an 11-9 decision to South Florida on Wednesday in Tampa, Florida.  John Fussell went 3-for-5 with three RBIs and two runs scored to pace the Stetson offense, while Josh Powers finished 3-for-5 with two RBIs and one run.  The loss fell to left-handed relief pitcher Adam Schaly, who allowed four runs on no hits and four walks in just 0.1 inning of work.
 
Vance Vizcaino leads three Hatters batters hitting over .300 this season, boasting a .331 batting average to go along with 11 doubles, four triples and seven stolen bases.  Will Mackenzie is batting .320 and leads the team in doubles (12) and RBIs (36), while Cory Reid rounds out the power hitters with a .312 batting average.  Reid has recorded nine doubles, five triples, which ranks second in the Atlantic Sun, scored 39 times and successfully stolen 11 bases in 14 tries to lead the team.
 
Right-handed pitcher Mitchell Jordan is expected to take the mound against NKU in Friday's opener.  Jordan is 2-1 over six starts, and he holds a 3.69 earned run average with 31 strikeouts and nine walks in 31.2 innings of work.  Saturday's starter will be righty Brooks Wilson, who leads the conference with seven wins and has a 4.02 ERA.  Wilson has struck out 40 batters and walked 18 while giving up 24 runs, 18 earned, on 55 hits in 53.2 innings.  Right-hander Walker Sheller will take the bump in Sunday's finale.  Sheller holds a 2-5 record with one save to go along with a 4.89 ERA and 32 strikeouts in 38.2 innings of work.
 
NKU-STETSON SERIES: Stetson holds a 4-2 advantage in the all-time series with NKU.  The Hatters swept the first Atlantic Sun series between the two programs during the 2013 season in DeLand, Florida.  Stetson scored three runs over the final two innings to take a 3-2 victory in the first-ever meeting before handing NKU an 8-2 loss the next day.  In the finale, Garrett Russini's sacrifice fly scored Darby McCormick to lift the Hatters to a 7-6 win.
 
One year ago, the Norse swept a doubleheader on April 5, 2014, by taking a 16-8 victory in the opener and an 8-0 decision in the nightcap to ensure the series win.  The Hatters avoided the sweep with a 6-2 win in the finale at the Bill Aker Baseball Complex.
 
LAST SEASON AGAINST STETSON: Wendell Wright and three relievers combined on a four-hit shutout in the nightcap of the April 5 doubleheader to lift the Norse to victory, marking NKU's first shutout as an NCAA Division I program.  Wright pitched four scoreless innings and struck out two batters, while Alex Bolia, Evan Korson and Caleb Lonkard each pitch an inning apiece to preserve the shutout.
 
Cole Bauml led the Norse offense last season, going 5-for-11 (.455) from the plate with one double, one home run, eight RBIs and two runs scored, while Cody Kuzniczci batted .429 (6-for-14) with a pair of doubles and five runs scored over the three-game series.  Logan Spurlin went 4-for-10 (.400) for NKU, and he recorded two doubles, one home run, drove in five runs and scored five times.
 
Patrick Mazeika finished 5-for-11 (.455) with three walks, one double and four runs scored to lead the Hatters against the Norse last season.  Garrett Russini also batted .455 (5-for-11), and he collected three doubles, two RBIs and one run scored. 
 
Taylor Cockrell earned the victory in the series finale, allowed just two runs on seven hits in a complete-game performance.  He struck out eight batters and only gave up one extra-base hit, a triple to right field by Josh Myers.
 
CONFERENCE-LEADING STREAK: Cody Kuzniczci's single up the middle in the bottom of first inning against Maryville on Wednesday extended his conference-leading hitting streak to 17 games.  He entered midweek action tied with Florida Gulf Coast's Jake Noll, who saw his 16-game hitting streak come to an end against Florida Atlantic on Wednesday.  Kuzniczci has also recorded a hit in 18 of the last 19 games for the Norse after going 3-for-4 against Dayton on March 12.
 
This season, the redshirt junior from Madeira, Ohio, is batting .285 with 11 doubles, which ranks second on the team and sixth in the Atlantic Sun, one triple and two home runs.  Kuzniczci has driven in 16 runs and scored 16 times, and he has successfully stolen three bases in four tries.
 
COMPLETE-GAME EFFORTS: NKU is 2-0 this season when a Norse pitcher records a complete game.  Tyler Miller struck out four batters and allowed just one run on four hits in a nine-inning effort in Wednesday's 3-1 victory over Maryville (Tenn.).  He faced just 32 batters and threw 116 pitches against the Scots.
 
Earlier this season, Matt Jefferson recorded NKU's first complete game.  He gave up two runs on nine hits as the Norse defeated Xavier, 4-2, on March 29 at the Bill Aker Baseball Complex.  He recorded seven strikeouts and two walks over during his complete-game performance.
 
HOLDING LEADS: NKU is 9-0 when leading after seven innings after holding a 2-1 advantage over Maryville on Wednesday.  The Norse have also held onto leads against Campbell (Feb. 14), CSU Bakersfield (Feb. 21), Cincinnati-Clermont (March 16), Morehead State (March 24), Eastern Kentucky (April 8) and each of a three-game series against Xavier (March 27-29).
 
The Norse overcame a 7-5 deficit after seven innings against Dayton on March 12.  The Flyers added a run in the eighth before NKU answered with three runs in ninth to force extra innings.  Quint Heady's two-run single in the 14th lifted the Norse to a 10-8 victory.  On March 19, NKU scored runs in the eighth and ninth innings after trailing Miami-Hamilton (3-2) for walk-off 4-3 win at the Bill Aker Baseball Complex.
 
UP NEXT: NKU heads to Indiana for a pair of midweek contests next week.  The Norse travel to Indianapolis on Tuesday to face Butler at 3 p.m. before taking on Evansville the next day at 7 p.m.  Links to live stats and John Asalon's audio broadcast are available at NKUNorse.com, and fans can track each game's progress by following @NKUNorseGameDay on Twitter as well.