WESTFIELD, Ind. – The Northern Kentucky University baseball team recovered from a 16-11 game one defeat against Western Illinois to take the second game of the twin-bill, 5-4, in dramatic fashion at Grand Park on Saturday.
Trailing by one in the bottom of the ninth in game two,
Kyle Colletta clubbed a single up the middle to plate
Brad Bohlen for the game-tying run. In the next at-bat, pinch hitter
Ty Amann singled to dead center as Colletta sped from first and beat the tag for the game-winning run and doubleheader split.
Mike Moffatt went 4-for-5 on the day with three runs scored, two doubles and three RBI.
Anthony Vagnier added a team-best four RBI on the day, all coming in game one.
Quint Heady added four hits while
Trey Ganns went 3-for-6 with two doubles, three runs scored and two RBI.
The Norse improve to 3-6 on the season while Western Illinois falls to 1-7. The four-game series resumes on Sunday with another pair of doubleheaders set to begin at noon at Grand Park.
Game One (Western Illinois 16, Northern Kentucky 11)The Leathernecks piled on seven runs off seven hits in the second inning to take an early 7-0 lead as the Norse would never catch up to Western Illinois in game one.
Vagnier helped lead the offense with two hits and four RBI. Moffatt went a perfect 2-for-2 with two walks and also scored two runs and drove in one.
Jake Hickey belted a pair of doubles to go with two RBI and a run scored in the series opener.
After Western Illinois plated its eighth run of the game in the top of the third, NKU got on the board in the bottom half of the inning courtesy of a bases-loaded walk. A sacrifice fly from Moffatt and a two-run double from Vagnier cut the Leatherneck lead in half, 8-4.
In the top of the fifth, Western Illinois pulled ahead to lead 13-4 after posting a five-run, five-hit frame.
The Norse responded with five runs over the next two innings to come back within four of the Leathernecks at 13-9 through six. However, Western Illinois struck again with
three runs in the seventh to put the game out of reach.
Game Two (Northern Kentucky 5, Western Illinois 4)Norse pitchers shined in game two, led by sophomore starter
Pat Kelley who tossed a season-high 6.1 innings and held the Leathernecks to four hits and three runs while striking out four.
Alex Bolia got the win for the Norse after tossing the final inning while
Aric Harris contributed 1.2 innings of scoreless relief with two strikeouts and one hit.
Overall, NKU out-hit the Leatherheads 11-5 in game two as neither team committed an error.
NKU and Western Illinois alternated one-run innings to open the game, landing in a 2-2 tie through four frames.
A Leatherneck RBI single put WIU up 3-2 until the bottom of the eighth when
Will Haueter and Ganns singled. Moffatt followed with a sacrifice fly to tie the game once again, at 3-3.
WIU posted a sacrifice fly of their own in the top of the ninth, handing NKU its one-run deficit heading into the bottom of the ninth.
NORSE NOTES: - The Norse have overcome a ninth-inning deficit twice this season, as two of their three wins have come in comeback fashion. NKU scored three runs in the ninth inning to defeat East Tennessee State, 3-2, on Feb. 26.
- Nine of NKU's 23 total hits on Saturday were doubles. The Norse are now averaging 2.89 doubles per game.
- Moffatt, a sophomore, has a team-leading four multi-hit games and three multi-RBI showings. He is batting .346 this season with nine hits and team-best eight RBI.
