HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – The Northern Kentucky University baseball team travels to No. 6 Kentucky on Tuesday for a 6:30 p.m. first pitch at Cliff Hagan Stadium. The midweek tilt is the final nonconference matchup for the Norse this season as NKU has just four games remaining in the regular season.
The game will be carried on SEC Network+. Links to the broadcast in addition to live audio and live stats are available on NKUNorse.com. Tickets can be purchased
here.
Gameday Information
Northern Kentucky Norse (21-30, 14-13 HL)
at No. 6 Kentucky Wildcats (35-16, 17-9 SEC)
Tuesday, May 16 – 6:30 p.m.
Cliff Hagan Stadium | Lexington, Ky.
NKU: Jr. LHP
Trey Ganns
UK: Jr. LHP Brad Schaenzer
LAST TIME OUT: The Norse have won four-straight after sweeping Oakland and Youngstown State in back-to-back doubleheaders last weekend. NKU batted .408 with 31 total hits as a team last Friday to defeat the Golden Grizzlies, 12-7 and 10-5. Against YSU on Saturday, the Norse pitching staff held the Penguins to six total runs with 14 hits and 15 strikeouts in 18.0 innings. NKU won 4-3 and 5-3 to close out the weekend.
TOURNAMENT BOUND: The Norse clinched their second-straight Horizon League Tournament bid last weekend. They enter the week sitting third in the Horizon League and close out the regular season with a three-game set at Oakland starting on Thursday. The League Tournament takes place May 24-27.
UIC sits atop the League standings with a 21-6 conference record, followed by Wright State in second at 19-8. The two teams have secured the top two spots in the League and meet in a three-game set at WSU this coming weekend to determine the regular-season champion and HL Tournament hosting rights. Valparaiso is in fourth behind NKU with a 12-15 HL record, followed by Oakland (11-16), Milwaukee (10-17) and Youngstown State (9-21).
THREE-TIME BATTER OF THE WEEK: Junior infielder/left-handed pitcher
Trey Ganns earned his third Horizon League Batter of the Week honor on Monday. Ganns batted .500 (8-for-16) with seven RBI, two doubles and a home run to lead NKU to a 4-0 weekend.
The Burlington, Kentucky native sits in the Horizon League's top three in nearly every offensive category including batting average (.356), slugging percentage (.649), on-base percentage (.494), hits (69), doubles (18), home runs (13), total bases (126) and walks (32) and is the League's RBI leader with 50. He has exploded for a League-best .745 slugging percentage in Horizon League contests. The junior has 96 career RBI, just 27 shy of NKU's all-time top-10.
QUICK HITS:
- NKU last took on a nationally-ranked opponent back on April 26 when the Norse fell to No. 2 Louisville, 6-4, after leading 4-3 through four innings.
- Northern Kentucky's four-game win streak is a season best for the Norse. Additionally, their 21 wins this season is a new Division-I era record, besting last year's 20 wins. With three HL games remaining in the regular season, the Norse have won five more Horizon League games in 2017 than in 2016.
- When leading through six innings, NKU has a 16-3 record, which improves to 18-0 when leading through seven and 20-0 through eight.
- The Norse are 15th in the NCAA in doubles with 111, averaging 2.18 per game, which ranks 20th in the nation. They are also ranked 32nd in both home runs (56) and home runs per game (1.10).
- TJ Alas has eight multi-hit games in the last 16 contests, batting .359 with six homers and 20 RBI dating back to an April 21 doubleheader against Valparaiso. He is riding a 42-game reached base streak and has been on base in all but two contests this year.
- Since returning from an injury on May 11, senior infielder Kyle Colletta is batting .500 (6-for-12) with four RBI.
- In his last nine pitching appearances- which includes one start – Jordan Menfee has posted a 1.75 ERA. The sophomore has thrown 25.2 innings across those appearances with just five earned runs allowed, 18 strikeouts and a .216 opposing batting average.
- Cameron Ross is ranked third in the NCAA in total pitching appearances with 31. He is in the Horizon League's top-10 in ERA (3.42), saves (four) and opposing batting average (.249). Ross is second on the team in innings pitched with 52.2 behind Trey Ganns' team-high 57.0 innings of work.
- Five Norse players who have seen action in at least 45 of NKU's 51 games are batting over.300 with 25 or more RBI.
SCOUTING THE WILDCATS: Like the Norse, Kentucky has won four-straight which includes a three-game sweep of SEC foe Tennessee last weekend. The Wildcats are 24-5 at home. They are batting .322 as a team with a .507 team slugging percentage. They have outscored their foes 401-201 in 52 games this season. The pitching staff owns a 3.39 ERA and has held opponents to a .224 batting average with 470 strikeouts to just 157 walks.
Riley Mahan, a Cincinnati native, earned his third SEC Player of the Week honor on Monday after hitting .667 with three doubles, a triple and three home runs last week. He is one of five UK hitters with a batting average of .330 or better. Mahan has a team-high 54 RBI with 13 homers, 21 doubles and three triples.
Projected starter Brad Schaenzer, a junior lefty, is 4-0 with a 3.60 ERA in 18 appearances, two starts. He has fanned 32 and walked nine in his 35.0 innings.
SERIES HISTORY: Northern Kentucky won its first-ever game against the Wildcats on March 29 last season at UK. The Norse claimed a 5-4 comeback victory after scoring three runs in the top of the sixth and out-hit the then-No.12 ranked Wildcats, 10-7.
Charlie Jerger threw 3.0 innings with one hit allowed, no walks and three strikeouts.
The Wildcats lead the all-time series, 13-1. The series dates back to 1972- NKU's first season of baseball- when Kentucky won the first meeting, 8-0, on April 26.
