MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The Northern Kentucky University baseball team nearly recovered from an 11-1 loss to Alabama State in game one of a doubleheader when it battled in game two but fell short, 7-6, on Saturday.
Game two saw 3.0 shutout innings of relief with three strikeouts from sophomore
Pierce Knisley.
Quint Heady led the offense in the nightcap, going 3-for-5 with three RBI, a homer and a run scored.
The Norse (4-10) struggled to string hits together in game one, stranding 10 baserunners in the contest after posting at least one hit in each of the first six innings.
The Norse and Hornets (10-6) wrap up the four-game series on Sunday with a 2 p.m. first pitch at Wheeler-Watkins Baseball Complex.
Game One (Alabama State 11, Northern Kentucky 1)Northern Kentucky trailed Alabama State, 2-1, through five innings but the Hornets piled on runs late to take the front end of the doubleheader.
NKU starter
Justin Watts allowed just two hits across his first five innings of work. One of the early hits managed by Alabama State was a two-run homer from Carlos Ocasio for a 2-0 ASU lead in the third.
Northern Kentucky cut the Alabama State lead to 2-1 in the top of the fifth.
Ty Amann singled to right and scored on an RBI single from
Logan Spurlin after being aided by a pair of Hornet miscues.
In the sixth inning, a two-run double from ASU's Eriq White brought
Nick Beard out of the bullpen with the bases loaded and one out. Beard walked in a run but struck out two to limit the damage with Alabama State leading 5-1.
Beard worked around a lead-off double in the seventh to keep the Hornets quiet before they exploded for seven hits in the eighth frame after entering the inning with six total hits on the day.
Hornet relievers combined for 3.2 hitless innings pitched with seven strikeouts. The win went to starter Tyler Howe who tossed 5.1 innings with one unearned run and seven hits allowed.
Game Two (Alabama State 7, Northern Kentucky 6)Heady had two hits and three RBI through the first inning and a half to help NKU out to an early 5-0 lead in game two.
In his first at-bat, Heady laced a two-run homer to left, handing NKU a 2-0 edge. The offense continued to roll in the second frame where
Ty Amann used a single to push
Ryan LeFevers and
Kyle Colletta across the plate. Heady followed with an RBI single for the 5-0 Norse lead.
Alabama State tacked on a run on a groundout in the second and scored three runs on three hits including a two-run homer in the fourth inning to make it a 5-4 game.
Back-to-back RBI hits gave ASU its first lead of the game in the fifth, 7-5.
Heady's third hit of the contest came in the top of the seventh when he moved
Anthony Vagnier to third, setting him up to score on a wild pitch for a one-run game.
Heady represented the tying run when the Norse attempted a suicide squeeze later in the inning, but the senior was called out at the plate for the 7-6 result.
Knisley shined in relief, tossing 3.0 innings and holding the Hornets hitless with three strikeouts and no walks.
Starter
Tyler Miller absorbed the loss after 5.0 innings pitched while ASU reliever Darren Kelly got the win after 5.1 innings with nine strikeouts.
NORSE NOTES:- Amann posted three hits, two runs scored and two RBI between both games of the doubleheader. The junior is batting .412 this season after appearing in six games.
- Spurlin has five RBI in the last four games including three in the Alabama State series. The senior catcher has totaled nine so far this season, the second-most on the squad behind Mike Moffatt (10).
