HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – The Northern Kentucky University baseball team welcomes Youngstown State to Bill Aker Baseball Complex for a three-game Horizon League series this weekend. The opener is set for 3 p.m. on Friday. The series continues at 1 p.m. on Saturday and noon on Sunday.
 
The entire series will be broadcast on ESPN3 with John Asalon on the call. Live streaming is available on computers, tablets and smart phones through WatchESPN and the ESPN app. Links to the broadcast as well as live stats are available at NKUNorse.com.
 
Gameday Information
Youngstown State Penguins (5-16, 2-4 Horizon)
at Northern Kentucky Norse (8-15, 3-0 Horizon)
Bill Aker Baseball Complex | Highland Heights, Ky.
Friday, March 31 – 3 p.m.
YSU: Sr. RHP Kevin Yarabinec
NKU: Sr. RHP Jean-Francois Dionne
 
Saturday, April 1 – 1 p.m.
YSU: So. LHP Collin Floyd
NKU: Jr. LHP Trey Ganns
 
Sunday, April 2 – 12 p.m.
YSU: Sr. RHP Jeremy Quinlan
NKU: Jr. RHP Pat Kelley

LAST TIME OUT: The Norse dropped a pair of midweek games at home against Miami (Ohio) and on the road at Dayton. NKU led 4-0 through three innings against the RedHawks, but Miami stormed back, scoring four of its five runs on home runs, including a game-winning solo homer in the top of the eighth to notch a 5-4 win. At Dayton on Wednesday, the Flyers scored six runs on four hits in the bottom of the first inning and defeated the Norse, 10-3.
 
RESUMING LEAGUE PLAY: The Norse had a bye week from Horizon League action last weekend when they took on crosstown foe Cincinnati and won 1-of-3. NKU opened conference action against Milwaukee at home the weekend of March 17 and swept the Panthers in a three-game series.
 
The Norse opened League play batting .330, led by Jake Richmond's Horizon League Batter of the Week-worthy performance against the Panthers. The junior batted .500 (7-for-14) with six RBI, two home runs and a pair of stolen bases. Five Norse hit .333 or better to open HL action. Kyle Colletta also opened League play batting .500. Seven of his 11 total RBI came in the first League series of the season.
 
QUICK HITS:

• NKU leads the Horizon League in runs scored (125), hits (215) and doubles (49). It is also in the League's top-three in batting average (.267), slugging percentage (.383), on-base percentage (.352), RBI (103) and home runs (14). The team averages 2.19 doubles per game, which ranks 33rd in the NCAA.
• NKU is 3-1 at home this season. Colletta is batting .462 with a .563 on-base percentage at Bill Aker Baseball Complex.
• Dominic Mercurio has consistently led the squad at the plate this season and is fourth in the League in batting average at .338. He has clubbed a hit in 17 of his 21 games played, which includes seven multi-hit showings. Richmond is also in the HL top-10, batting .302 on the year.
• Three Norse sit atop the League standings in doubles, led by TJ Alas who has a League-best eight doubles this season. Richmond and Chad Roberts are tied for second with seven. Ten of Roberts' 18 total hits have been for extra bases.
• The Norse are 4-2 in Pat Kelley's starts. The junior owns a 1-1 record and will be making his seventh start of the season on Sunday.
• Shane Paradis, a freshman infielder, has appeared in five games for the Norse and has five total RBI, all coming in his last two games at Cincinnati (March 25) and Dayton (March 29).
• Reliever Seth Rosenberg has held opponents scoreless in nine of his 12 total outings, totaling 10.0 of his 12.0 innings pitched. He has also allowed just five total hits across those appearances.

SCOUTING THE PENGUINS: YSU is led by first-year head coach Dan Bertolini. The Penguins are 5-16 on the year and have won three-straight after winning 2-of-3 against Oakland last weekend and defeating Bowling Green, 3-1, in midweek play on Tuesday. YSU enters the weekend ranked fourth in the League with a 2-4 record.
 
Web Charles has a team-best .292 batting average. Andrew Kendrick owns a League-best .700 slugging percentage and eight home runs while also ranking second in RBI with 20 across his 17 games played. YSU is sixth in the League in both batting average (.238) and ERA (7.06). Opponents are averaging .323 against the Penguins' pitching staff.
 
Friday's anticipated starter, Kevin Yarabinec, is eighth in the League in ERA at 3.38 and has held foes to a .191 average. He has fanned 24 in 24.0 innings. YSU will send Collin Floyd to the mound on Saturday. The sophomore lefty has tossed 24.2 innings and has accrued a 1-4 record and 8.76 ERA. Sunday's starter, Jeremy Quinlan, made his first appearance of the season on March 19 at UIC and threw 3.0 scoreless innings with two hits and three strikeouts. He has 8.0 total innings pitched on the year.
 
SERIES HISTORY: Northern Kentucky leads the all-time series, 5-1, with five of the six meetings coming last season. Prior to last season, the teams had met once –when NKU defeated the Penguins, 4-3, in the 1977 Division II NCAA Tournament. The Norse took the first two games of a three-game set at Youngstown State April 15-17 at YSU last year by scores of 9-8 and 11-5. The Penguins won the finale, 3-1. NKU then swept YSU in a doubleheader in the final HL series of the 2016 season on May 15. The Norse erased a 7-0 deficit in game one of the doubleheader, scoring eight runs in the eighth inning for an 8-7 victory. They then won game two, 12-8.
 
ON DECK: The Norse conclude their homestand with a Tuesday, April 4 midweek matchup against in-state foe Eastern Kentucky. First pitch is set for 3 p.m.