SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Northern Kentucky's defense turned five double plays on Saturday night, but the Norse had to withstand a ninth-inning rally to claim back-to-back wins over USC Upstate in Atlantic Sun baseball action. NKU pulled out the 7-6 victory, improving to 15-24 on the year and 3-8 in A-Sun play.
A miscue by the Norse in the first allowed Upstate (14-30, 4-10 A-Sun) grab an early 2-0 lead. The Spartans put the first two batters on base via a single from Daniel Fickas and walk by Erik Samples. Krider hit one back to NKU pitcher
Tyler Miller who threw the ball away trying to get Fickas out at third. Both Fickas and Samples came home on the play.
NKU broke threw for four runs in the third and never trailed the rest of the way.
Vagnier walked to lead off the frame, advanced to second on
Dominic Mercurio's groundout and then stole third after
Quint Heady drew a walk. Facing a 3-2 count,
Cody Kuzniczci walked thanks to a wild pitch allowing Vagnier to score NKU's first run.
Trey Ganns then doubled home a pair of Norse and
Kyle Colletta delivered the final run of the frame with single to left.
NKU's defense was on point. The Norse turned double plays in the second and fourth before Northern Kentucky tacked on two more runs in the fifth.
Four singles by Kuzniczci,
Logan Spurlin, Colletta and
Caleb Lonkard pated the two runs.
The Norse defense then resumed turning double plays, registering them in the fifth, seventh and eighth frames. The double play in the seventh came after Upstate recorded its third run, which came courtesy of a sac fly from Samples, and pulled the Spartans within three, 6-3.
A manufactured run in the seventh turned out to be crucial for NKU, as it turned out to be the difference in the game.
Lonkard singled and took second on a throwing error by Upstate's left fielder. Vagnier laid down a sac bunt to move Lonkard to third. Mercurio then delivered a sac fly to right to extend NKU's lead to 7-3.
But, USC Upstate didn't go away quietly.
The Spartans tallied three runs in their final at-bat. The first two came via a double from Charlie Carpenter with one out, while the last Spartan run came on an infield single by James Fowlkes.
Cody Cooper induced a groundout to end the game.
Jake Shaw earned the win for Northern Kentucky to move to 2-4 on the season. Cooper earned the save, his first of the year.
Colletta went 4-for-5 with a pair of RBI's at the dish for the Norse. Ganns also finished with a pair of RBI's, while Kuzniczci scored twice and collected two hits.
Blake Whitney suffered the set-back for USC Upstate and is now 3-3 on the year. Fickas and Fowlkes provided most of the offense for the Spartans, combining for six of Upstate's nine hits.
Northern Kentucky will go for a third-straight win against USC Upstate on Sunday, when the teams square off in the series finale at 1 p.m.
