Kyle Colletta Campbell plug
Bennett Scarborough (Scarborough Photography)
9
Milwaukee UWM 7-9
13
Winner Northern Kentucky NKU 4-10
Milwaukee UWM
7-9
9
Final
13
Northern Kentucky NKU
4-10
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Milwaukee UWM 2 3 0 0 0 0 1 0 3 9 13 1
Northern Kentucky NKU 0 1 0 2 4 2 0 4 X 13 15 3

W: Ganns, Trey (2-2) L: SCHULFER, Austin (3-2) S: Jerger, Charlie (1)

Game Recap: Baseball | | Melissa Powell, NKU Athletic Communications

@NKUNorseBSB opens League play with 13-9 win over Milwaukee

HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – Career days from senior Kyle Colletta and junior Chad Roberts lifted the Northern Kentucky University baseball team over Horizon League foe Milwaukee, 13-9, on Saturday as the duo fueled a 15-hit offensive barrage that included two home runs. Colletta drove in a career-high five runs while Roberts went 4-for-5 with four runs scored, two RBI, and a homerun.

The Norse stormed back from a 5-0 deficit, spreading its 13 runs over five different innings highlighted by a four-run fifth that gave NKU its lead throughout the remainder of the game.

The game also served as NKU's home opener at Bill Aker Baseball Complex. With the win, Northern Kentucky improves to 4-10 overall and 1-0 in the League. Milwaukee dips to 7-9 overall and opens HL play at 0-1.

At the Plate
  • Five Norse had multi-hit games led by Roberts' 4-for-5 showing.
  • Colletta was 3-for-5 with one run scored to go along with his five RBI.
  • Brad Bohlen, Dominic Mercurio and Jake Richmond each went 2-for-4 while Trey Ganns was 1-for-4 with a solo home run.
On the Mound
  • The pitching staff struck out six while issuing just one walk on Saturday.
  • Ganns started on the mound for NKU and improved to 2-2 after tossing 6.0 innings. The left-hander allowed five runs, three earned, across the first two innings, but held the Panthers scoreless across his final four innings of work, retiring a stretch of 10-straight.
  • Ganns' final line included eight hits, five runs, three earned, five strikeouts and no walks.
  • Seth Rosenberg contributed a scoreless inning of relief with one hit.
  • Charlie Jerger picked up his first save of the season and fourth of his career after throwing the eighth and ninth.
Key Moments
  • Milwaukee came out swinging, totaling seven hits and five runs scored across the first two innings for a 5-0 lead, but was kept quiet by Ganns over the next four frames.
  • A single Norse run off of a Colletta groundout put the Norse on the board in the bottom of the second.
  • After a scoreless third for both teams, NKU would score in three-straight innings, starting with a two-run fourth. With one out, Roberts and Mercurio both doubled and were sent home on a two-run single from Colletta, cutting the Milwaukee lead to 5-3.
  • NKU tied it up in the fifth when TJ Alas forced a two-run error to knot the game at 5-5. In the next at-bat, Roberts laced a two-run homer over the right-field wall for the go-ahead runs and a 7-5 lead.
  • Two insurance runs in the sixth on a Richmond RBI single and a bases-loaded walk pushed the Norse lead to 8-5.
  • Milwaukee contested a run in the seventh before NKU again unleashed four runs in the bottom of the eighth. Ganns scored the first on a solo home run followed by a pair of two-out run-scoring singles from Bohlen and Colletta to extend the lead to 13-6.
  • In the final inning, the Panthers capitalized on three hits and a Norse error to plate three.
Norse Notes
  • In his last two starts, Ganns has tossed 12.0 total innings and has struck out 10 while issuing just one walk.
  • Ganns, a junior, launched his sixth career homerun while Roberts' homer was his second as a Norse. Roberts is tied with Alas for the team lead in homeruns.
  • Colletta's five RBI are the most for a Norse since Mercurio drove in five at East Tennessee State in a 21-12 win on Feb. 28 of last season.
  • NKU tied its season high in hits with 15 for the third time this season. The Norse have posted double-figure hits in seven of the last eight games, including five-straight. They have batted 64-for-184 (.348) as a team in the last five games.
  • Richmond extends his hit streak to nine-straight games while Mercurio, Ganns and Roberts are currently riding eight-game hitting streaks.
Up Next
  • The three-game set between the Norse and Panthers concludes with an 11 a.m. doubleheader on Sunday at Bill Aker Baseball Complex. NKU looks to win its first series of the 2017 slate.
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