HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – The Northern Kentucky baseball team travels to UIC for its second-straight Horizon League series on the road. The series, which will be broadcast on ESPN3, pits the Horizon League's second-ranked Flames against the third-ranked Norse.

The set opens with a 7:05 p.m. ET/6:05 p.m. CT first pitch on Thursday at UIC's Curtis Granderson Stadium. The series continues on Friday with a start time that was originally scheduled for 7:05 p.m. ET, but is currently TBD due to anticipated thunderstorms. The finale is set for 1:05 p.m. ET/12:05 p.m. CT on Saturday.

Links to the ESPN3 broadcast and live stats are available at NKUNorse.com.

Gameday Information
Northern Kentucky Norse (12-19, 6-3 Horizon)
at UIC Flames (21-8, 10-2 Horizon)
Chicago | Curtis Granderson Stadium

Thursday, April 13 – 7:05 p.m. ET/6:05 p.m. CT
NKU: Jr. RHP Brody Basilone
UIC: Sr. LHP Jake Dahlberg

Friday, April 14 – TBA
NKU: RSr. RHP Jean-Francois Dionne
UIC: So. RHP Reid Birlingmair

Saturday, April 15 – 1:05 p.m. ET/12:05 p.m. CT
NKU: Jr. RHP Pat Kelley
UIC: RSr. RHP Jack Andersen

LAST TIME OUT: NKU cruised to a 15-1 win over Miami Hamilton at home on Tuesday. The Norse knocked a season-high 19 hits. 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.

LEAGUE LEADERS: Within Horizon League games only, the Norse lead the conference in batting average (.340), slugging percentage (.623), on-base percentage (.429), runs (88), RBI (83) and home runs (25). NKU's 25 homers in League contests is far and away the most in the conference, with Youngstown State ranking second with 13. Richmond has exploded for a League-leading .450 batting average with a .542 on-base percentage and five home runs across NKU's nine conference games. Meanwhile, Ganns leads in walks (27) and is second in the HL in RBI with 30 while TJ Alas has a conference-best 11 doubles and 29 runs scored this year. On the mound, Cameron Ross is tied for 13th in the nation in pitching appearances with 19, a League-leading mark, which includes six HL appearances. He leads the League in ERA in Horizon League games (1.29).

NATIONAL RECOGNITION: For the second time in his collegiate career, Ganns was named a National Player of the Week by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper as well as the Horizon League Batter of the Week. Ganns blasted four home runs, posted 12 RBI and scored five times across four games last week. In Sunday's 18-7 win at Valparaiso, Ganns exploded for eight RBI - a Division-I program record - via three home runs including a grand slam. His eight RBI came one shy of tying NKU's all-time program record, set in 2001. He was the first Norse to hit three or more homers in a single game since the 2009 season and clubbed the first grand slam in four years for NKU. Ganns, a two-way player, earned his first National Player of the Week honor from Collegiate Baseball on May 2 of last season for his performance on the mound after fanning 14 batters in 7.2 scoreless innings pitched against League foe Milwaukee.

GOING LONG: The Norse have at least one home run in nine of the last 11 games, which includes four contests with three or more home runs. NKU is ranked 20th in the NCAA in home runs per game, averaging 1.16. Its 36 total home runs this season rank 23rd nationally. Thirty-three of NKU's 36 homers on the season have come in the last 18 games, dating back to the Horizon League opener against Milwaukee on March 17. The Norse are averaging 1.83 home runs per game in that span. The squad's 36 homers in a single season is already a new Division-I era record, besting NKU's mark of 33 homers in the 2014 campaign. TJ Alas and Ganns are tied with a team-best eight home runs apiece. Alas has blasted two home runs in a single game three times this season.

QUICK HITS:

• In addition to home runs and home runs per game, Northern Kentucky is ranked top-30 nationally in doubles (25th, 70) and doubles per game (17th, 2.26) and is also 36th in slugging percentage (.455) and 51st in scoring, averaging 6.7 runs per game.
• 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.
• NKU is 10-0 when leading after seven innings and 11-0 when leading after eight.
• Both Jordan Menfee and Travis Rowland have allowed just one hit and one unearned run apiece in their last 5.0 innings pitched, which spans the last two appearances for Menfee and the last three for Rowland.
• TJ Alas and Kyle Colletta enter the weekend riding a season-best 22-game reached base streak.
• NKU is 6-2 in Pat Kelley's starts. Kelley is 3-1 and has earned the victory in each of his last three starts. He has tossed at least 6.0 innings in each of his last three starts and has fanned 14 while issuing just two walks in those games.

SCOUTING THE FLAMES: UIC is 21-8 overall with six of its eight losses coming in the first 10 games of the 2017 campaign. The Flames are 13-2 at Curtis Granderson Stadium with both home losses coming at the hands of HL teams – Valparaiso and Oakland. The Flames enter the weekend boasting the strongest ERA of any League team at 2.96, holding foes to a.323 batting average. They sit second in the Horizon League standings behind Wright State (22-8, 10-2). UIC also leads the League in batting average (.294), on-base percentage (.383) and fielding percentage (.984) this season. The Flames are second – behind Northern Kentucky – in slugging percentage (.435), runs (186), hits (291) and RBI (168).

David Cronin leads the HL with a .386 batting average and is one of five Flames batting over .300. Rob Calabrese is second in the HL with 29 RBI and has 16 extra-base hits including 10 doubles and six home runs. Scott Ota follows with 28 RBI. UIC's Thursday starter, Jake Dahlberg, is the reigning Horizon League Pitcher of the Week after tossing 6.1 scoreless innings with five hits and eight strikeouts against Oakland in his last start on Friday, April 7. Opponents are hitting just .188 against the southpaw in 24.2 innings of work.

SERIES HISTORY: UIC leads the all-time series, 4-1, with all five meetings coming in the 2016 season. The Flames swept NKU in a doubleheader on May 7, 2016 in the last meeting by scores of 5-4 and 5-2 at Curtis Granderson Stadium. The Norse won 1-of-3 against UIC in a series at home April 8-10 last year.

ON DECK: The Norse travel to Columbus, Ohio to take on Ohio State on Wednesday at 6:35 p.m. before returning home to host Valparaiso (April 21) and UIC (April 23) in a pair of doubleheaders next weekend.