HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. -- The Northern Kentucky University baseball team wraps up the 2017 regular season with a three-game series at Oakland beginning on Thursday.  First pitch for the opener is set for 3 p.m. The series continues at 1 p.m. on Friday and concludes at 1 p.m. on Saturday.

Conference tournament seeding implications are on the line as NKU enters the weekend ranked third in the Horizon League. The Norse can finish no higher than third place and can seal third with two wins regardless of other results around the League.

Thursday and Saturday's games will be carried live on ESPN3. Live stats are available for each of the three games with links available on NKUNorse.com.

Gameday Information
Northern Kentucky Norse (21-31, 14-13 HL)
at Oakland Golden Grizzlies (15-35, 11-16 HL)
Oakland Baseball Field | Rochester, Mich.

Thursday, May 18 – 3 p.m.
NKU: RSr. RHP Jean-Francois Dionne
OAK: Sr. RHP Tyler Palm

Friday, May 19 – 1 p.m.
NKU: So. RHP Jordan Menfee
OAK: Sr. RHP Connor Fannon

Saturday, May 20 – 1 p.m.
NKU: Jr. RHP Brody Basilone
OAK: Sr. RHP Aaron Dehn

LAST TIME OUT: The Norse saw a four-game win streak come to a halt on Tuesday when they fell, 10-1, to No. 6 Kentucky in Lexington. The Norse trailed by two through five and a half, but a five-run sixth from the Wildcats put the game out of reach. Jake Richmond scored NKU's lone run on an RBI single from Will Haueter.

TOURNAMENT BOUND: The Norse clinched their second-straight Horizon League Tournament bid last weekend. The League Tournament takes place May 24-27 at the site of the top-seeded team.

UIC sits atop the League with a 21-6 conference record, followed by Wright State in second at 19-8. The two teams have clinched 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 entered the week sitting in the Horizon League's top three in nearly every offensive category including batting average (.348), slugging percentage (.636), on-base percentage (.443), 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:

• Northern Kentucky's 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 112, averaging 2.15 per game, which ranks 20th in the nation. They are also ranked 33rd in home runs (56) and 40th in home runs per game (1.08). In League play, NKU is averaging 1.56 home runs per game, clubbing 42 homers through 27 HL contests.
• TJ Alas has eight multi-hit games in the last 17 contests, batting .359 with six homers and 20 RBI dating back to an April 21 doubleheader against Valparaiso. He is riding a 13-game hit streak and a 42-game reached base streak. He has been on base in all but two contests this year.
• Since returning from an injury on May 12, senior infielder Kyle Colletta is batting .429 (6-for-14) with four RBI in five games.
• Cameron Ross is ranked third in the NCAA in total pitching appearances with 32. He entered the week ranked in the Horizon League top-10 in ERA (3.35), saves (four) and opposing batting average (.245). Ross is second on the team in innings pitched with 53.2 behind Trey Ganns' team-high 60.0 innings of work.
• 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.
• NKU's Thursday starter Dionne will be making his 10th start for the Norse. His last outing was against Oakland when the righty threw a season-high 6.1 innings with 10 hits, five runs, two walks and four strikeouts.
• Basilone will take to the mound in the regular-season finale on Saturday. He is coming off a strong 5.0-inning outing at Youngstown State where he allowed four hits and two runs and fanned a season-high six batters.

SCOUTING OAKLAND: Oakland is coming off a doubleheader sweep over Youngstown State last weekend and has scored 27 runs in its last four contests, two of which were against the Norse back on May 12. The Golden Grizzlies have only played six games at home this season but are undefeated on their own turf. Oakland's offense is batting .263 and averages 5.44 runs per game. Opponents are batting .306 against the Golden Grizzlies as the pitching staff owns a 6.76 ERA. Their batting average improves to .285 in Horizon League games.

Zach Sterry, who left last Friday's game against the Norse due to an injury, is the team batting leader with a .346 average, 44 RBI and .643 slugging percentage. Tyler Pagano is batting .327 with 42 RBI, 16 doubles and 10 home runs.

Tyler Palm is Thursday's projected starter. The righty owns a 6.06 ERA with 48 strikeouts and 28 walks in 65.1 innings. Connor Fannon (0-4, 6.21 ERA), who will start on Friday, last pitched against NKU on May 12 when he gave up seven hits, three runs and struck out eight in 4.2 innings. Similarly, Saturday's starter Aaron Dehn's last outing came against NKU. Dehn (1-2, 8.69 ERA) absorbed the loss after giving up 12 hits and nine runs in 5.0 innings.

SERIES HISTORY: The Norse and Golden Grizzlies are set to finish up a stretch in which the two teams will have played each other five times in eight days. NKU swept Oakland in a Senior Day doubleheader on Friday, May 12 at the Bill Aker Baseball Complex. The Norse hit .408 as a team on the day led by Ganns' 5-for-8 showing with five RBI that helped him clinch Batter of the Week honors. NKU won by scores of 12-7 and 10-5.

Oakland still leads the all-time series, 6-3, after going 5-0 against the Norse last season.

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