HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. - The Northern Kentucky University baseball team defeated Youngstown State on Friday afternoon by a final score of 16-13. Freshman Griffin Doersching hit three home runs in the contest. The Norse improve to 14-32 overall and 9-16 in the Horizon League. YSU falls to 15-32 on the season and 8-16 in league play.
 
AT THE PLATE

• Doersching went 4-for-5 with three homers, nine RBIs and four runs scored.
• Will Haueter was 3-for-5 with three runs scored.
• Mike Moffatt went 3-for-4 with two runs scored and an RBI.
• Dominic Mercurio hit 2-for-4 with a homer, two runs scored and two RBIs.

 
ON THE MOUND

• Pat Kelley got the start on the mound and gave up two runs in the first inning.
• Kyle Service earned the win in relief. He allowed three runs in three innings.
• Travis Rowland pitched two innings, allowing four runs on four hits.
• Nick Beard gave up four runs in 1.2 innings.
• Joe Martin threw 1.1 scoreless innings to help NKU get the victory.

 
KEY MOMENTS

• YSU took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first. Trey Bridis led off the game with a home run to left center. Jeff Wehler singled in the inning, and after stealing both second and third bases, he scored on an RBI single by Drew Dickerson.
• The Norse crossed the plate six times in the bottom of the first to take a 6-2 lead. Moffatt hit a lead-off triple, and he came home on Mercurio's two-run homer. Doersching added a three-run bomb to give NKU a 5-2 lead, and Shane Paradis also scored in the frame when Moffatt hit an RBI single in his second at-bat of the stanza.  
• The Penguins scored three runs in the top of the fourth to get within one run at 6-5. Nick LaBrasca hit a two-run shot in the inning, and Lucas Nasonti added an RBI double.
• NKU scored four times in the bottom of the fourth inning. Doersching clubbed an RBI single to score Haueter in the inning, and Roberts crossed the plate on an RBI groundout by Andrew Bacon. With Doersching standing on second base, Cole Heavilin hit a two-run homer to give the Norse a 10-5 lead.
• Doersching knocked his second three-run homer of the game in the bottom of the fifth to give NKU a 13-5 lead.
• YSU crossed the plate four times in the top of the sixth to make the score 13-9. The biggest hit in the inning came on Dickerson's double, which allowed two runs to score.
• The Penguins scored another run in the top of the seventh. Bridis hit an RBI single in the frame to get YSU within three runs at 13-10.
• The Norse crossed the plate three times in the bottom of the seventh to go ahead 16-10. Roberts hit an RBI single in the inning, and Doersching added a two-run homer, his third of the day.   
• YSU responded by scoring three runs in the top of the eighth. LaBrasca hit an RBI double, and Web Charles had a two-run single in the frame to make the score 16-13.
• The Penguins threatened to score in the ninth inning, but a 6-4-3 double play ended the frame.

 
NORSE NOTES

• The last NKU player to hit three home runs in a game was Trey Ganns, who accomplished the feat on April 9, 2017, against Valparaiso.
• NKU scored more than 15 runs for the first time since April 11, 2017, in a game played against Miami-Hamilton.
• The Norse had five home runs in the game.
• YSU finished with 20 hits in the contest, and NKU had 19.
• The Penguins committed two errors, and the Norse had one.

 
UP NEXT

• NKU hosts Youngstown State tomorrow at 1 p.m., and the game will be broadcast live on ESPN3.