HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – The Northern Kentucky University baseball team hosts Milwaukee and Youngstown State for a pair of doubleheaders this weekend with Horizon League Championship implications on the line. NKU takes on the Panthers on Friday at noon and hosts the Penguins on Sunday at noon for Senior Day at Bill Aker Baseball Complex.

Sunday's doubleheader will air on ESPN3 while Friday's twinbill will have live audio. Links to each broadcast and live stats are available on NKUNorse.com.

Before first pitch of game one on Sunday, NKU will honor nine players – Alex Bolia, Aric Harris, Quint Heady, Kevin Herren, Ryan LeFevers, Tyler Miller, Clark Pence, Logan Spurlin and Anthony Vagnier – in a pregame ceremony as part of Senior Day.

Gameday Information
Milwaukee Panthers (26-21, 12-9 HL)
at Northern Kentucky Norse (18-31, 7-19)
Friday, May 13 – Noon (DH)
Bill Aker Baseball Complex | Highland Heights, Ky.
Milwaukee: Sr. RHP Brian Keller / RFr. Elijah Goodman
NKU: So. LHP Trey Ganns / Jr. LHP Charlie Jerger

Youngstown State Penguins (12-32, 4-15 HL)
at Northern Kentucky Norse
Sunday, May 15 – Noon (DH)
Bill Aker Baseball Complex | Highland Heights, Ky.
YSU: TBA/TBA
NKU: TBA/TBA
 
LAST TIME OUT: The Norse last saw action on Sunday, May 8, when they swept Valparaiso in a doubleheader, 12-4 and 9-4, at Emory G. Bauer Field. NKU's midweek game at Xavier was cancelled due to severe weather on Tuesday.

SCOUTING THE PANTHERS: Milwaukee sits third in the Horizon League standings. Luke Meeteer leads the HL in batting average (.389), slugging percentage (.560), on-base percentage (.476), runs (44), hits (68) and stolen bases (22-for-23). Four players have stolen 10 or more bases as the team is 87-for-106 in steals. Daulton Varsho is the squad's RBI leader with 38. The pitching staff is second in the League in ERA at 4.24 and has struck out a League-best 369 batters at an average of 7.9 strikeouts per nine innings. Teams are batting .257 against the Panthers.

LAST TIME AGAINST MILWAUKEE: In the first-ever meeting between the two teams, Milwaukee took two of three games from NKU on April 29-May 1. Each game was decided in shutout fashion with the Panthers claiming 6-0 and 8-0 wins. NKU won game three, 3-0, after Trey Ganns fanned 14 batters in 7.2 innings pitched and had an RBI and run scored at Miller Park.

SCOUTING THE PENGUINS: The Penguins are seventh in the Horizon League standings. Gerrad Rohan paces the YSU offense with a .273 average and 23 RBI. He is followed by Andrew Kendrick with a .267 clip and 18 RBI. The Penguins are batting .221 as a team while opponents are averaging .291 against the pitching staff. YSU has accrued a 5.93 team ERA.

LAST TIME AGAINST YSU: NKU won its first-ever Horizon League series at Youngstown State the weekend of April 15, to push its all-time series lead to 3-1. The Norse won the first two games, 9-8 and 11-5, before falling in the finale, 3-1. Tito Montgomery batted .462 (6-for-13) with five RBI and two runs scored while Quint Heady and Conor Ledger added four RBI apiece in the series win.

STREAKING: Heady looks to end his final regular-season campaign on a high note. The senior is currently riding a 10-game hitting streak and has batted 18-for-36 (.500) in that span. In the last three games, he has batted 8-for-13 (.616) with three RBI, two runs scored and four stolen bases. Heady's 10-game hit streak has boosted his average from .246 to .299, the third-best mark on the team.

RECORD BOOK: With three home runs last weekend, Logan Spurlin moved into the top-10 in NKU program history in career home runs with 20. He is tied for 10th and needs one more home run to tie for eighth, and three to move into sixth all-time. The NKU career record is 48 held by John Heeter (1988-91). He has a Horizon League-leading nine home runs this season. Additionally, Spurlin is tied for 10th in career at-bats with 626. He is 18 hits shy of making the career top-10.
Additionally, with 59 career appearances, senior reliever Alex Bolia is one appearance shy of breaking into the top-10 all-time. He's tossed 67.2 innings with a 5-1 record and two saves in his career.

ODDS AND ENDS: Trey Ganns is batting .364 (20-for-55) with nine RBI at Bill Aker Baseball Complex this season. Dominic Mercurio has also seen success at home, with a .355 average. On the mound, Tyler Miller owns a 2.20 ERA in 16.1 innings at home.

NKU leads the HL in doubles with 92. The Norse are averaging 1.88 per game as Will Haueter and Ganns have 15 each, tied for second in the League.

Spurlin, a senior catcher, has caught a League-high 22 runners stealing.

TOURNAMENT IMPLICATIONS: The Horizon League Championship is set to take place on May 25-28 at the site of the No. 1 seed, which is currently Wright State. The top six teams in the League qualify for tournament play based on Horizon League winning percentage. Entering the weekend, NKU is sixth in the HL standings with a .269 winning percentage in League games, ahead of YSU who is seventh at .211. The Norse sit behind Valpo and Oakland who are tied with a .500 winning percentage. NKU has a bye week next week while all other League teams are set to compete.