HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – Northern Kentucky baseball scored early and often on Tuesday, scoring in all but two innings and knocking a season-high 19 hits to defeat Miami University Hamilton, 15-1, at Bill Aker Baseball Complex.
Seven Norse had multi-hit games while six had multi-RBI games. The defense allowed just one run on seven hits with three walks and nine strikeouts.
The Norse improve to 12-19 overall while Miami Hamilton dips to 20-17.
At the Plate
- Dominic Mercurio was perfect from the plate, reaching in all of his plate appearances. The junior went 3-for-3 with three walks, three runs scored and two RBI.
- Freshman infielder Shane Paradis made his fourth career start and went 3-for-5 with a run scored and two RBI.
- TJ Alas, Trey Ganns, Zach Heming and Preston Pilat posted two RBI a piece with Heming's coming off a two-run home run.
- Conor Ledger made his second start of the season and went 2-for-2 with a pair of doubles, two runs scored and a walk before Jake Miller took over in right field and batted 2-for-3 with two runs scored.
On the Mound
- Six Norse pitched on Tuesday with Joe Martin getting the start. Martin allowed the only MUH run of the game after allowing a pair of hits, walking two and fanning three.
- Freshman Brendan Alas made his first collegiate pitching appearance as he and Seth Rosenberg threw a pair of scoreless innings without issuing a walk.
- Jordan Menfee retired all six batters he faced in 2.0 innings of work before Ganns threw the seventh and allowed one hit.
- Cameron Ross closed the game, contributing a hitless eighth.
Key Moments
- A pair of freshmen drove in NKU's first runs of the day with the bases loaded. Paradis pushed Mercurio across the plate on an RBI single, followed by a two-run single from Pilat to give NKU a 3-0 edge.
- A pair of runs scored on a ground out and a fielder's choice in the second inning for a 5-0 lead.
- The Harriers' only run of the game came on an RBI single in the third.
- NKU scored in four of the next five innings on four run-scoring doubles, a Mercurio RBI single, Heming's two-run home run and a sacrifice fly for the 15-1 result.
Norse Notes
- In the last four games, TJ Alas has batted 9-for-19 (.474) with four home runs, two doubles, nine RBI and seven runs scored. He has a 1.211 slugging percentage in those games.
- Ganns has 14 RBI in the last five games.
- Paradis, a freshman infielder, has made seven appearances for the Norse and is hitting .333 (5-for-15) with two doubles, a home run, seven RBI and three runs scored this season.
- In his last 5.0 innings pitched, Menfee has allowed just one hit and one run – unearned – with six strikeouts.
- The Norse improve to 6-3 at home and are now batting .289 as a team this season.
Up Next
- The Norse travel for their second-straight Horizon League series on the road. They take on UIC in a three-game set Thursday, April 13-Saturday, April 15 at Curtis Granderson Stadium. Start times for the weekend were adjusted to a 7:05 p.m. ET/6:05 p.m. CT start on Thursday and Friday, and a 2:05 p.m. ET/1:05 p.m. CT start in the finale on Saturday. All three games are set to air on ESPN3.