HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – The Northern Kentucky University baseball team heads north to face Wright State for a three-game Horizon League series. The teams begin the series on Thursday, May 17 at Fifth Third Field, the home of the Dayton Dragons, a minor league affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Thursday's contest will have a live audio feed, and all of the games will feature live stats. Admission to Thursday's game at Fifth Third Field is free, but tickets are required.
 
Northern Kentucky Norse vs. Wright State Raiders
Thursday, May 17 – 6:30 p.m.  – Dayton, Ohio – Fifth Third Field
Friday, May 18 – 5 p.m. – Dayton, Ohio – Nischwitz Stadium
Saturday, May 19 – 2 p.m. – Dayton, Ohio – Nischwitz Stadium
 
LAST TIME OUT
The Norse played Xavier on Tuesday in a midweek nonconference contest. The Musketeers came away with a 14-3 victory. Will Haueter hit a two-run homer in the game.
 
SCOUTING WRIGHT STATE
The Raiders enter the contest at 33-15 overall and 19-6 in the Horizon League. Wright State has clinched the Horizon League Regular Season championship, and the team will host the Horizon League Tournament from May 23-26. Peyton Burdick leads the team with a .363 batting average. He has added 52 RBIs, 51 runs, 17 doubles, two triples and seven home runs. The Raiders also have three other batters hitting over .300, as Gabe Snyder (.353), Zane Harris (.344), and JD Orr (.310) are all above the mark. On the mound, Wright State has a team ERA of 3.93. Ryan Weiss and Zane Collins have made with a 13 and 12 starts, respectively. Weiss is 8-2 on the year with a 3.70 ERA, while Collins is 6-1 with a 4.04 ERA.
 
LAST MEETING
NKU won the first game of a doubleheader against the Raiders on March 30 by a score of 12-11. Wright State responded by winning the second game 12-5, and the Raiders took the series with a 14-2 win on March 31.

BIG WIN IN MARCH
The Norse defeated No. 6 Kentucky earlier this season on March 7 by a final score of 8-6. It was NKU's second win over a ranked program since its move to Division I. The Norse also defeated UK on March 29, 2016. The Wildcats were ranked No. 12 in that matchup.
 
HORIZON LEAGUE CO-BATTER OF THE WEEK
Freshman Griffin Doersching was named the Horizon League Co-Batter of the Week on May 14. Doersching shared the award with Youngstown State's Trey Bridis.

Doersching went 8-for-12 (.667) at the plate this past weekend against Youngstown State with four home runs, a double, 10 RBIs, and seven runs scored.

In the 16-13 win on May 11, he was 4-for-5 with three home runs, four runs scored, and nine RBIs. He tied the NKU record for most RBIs in a game with former Norse player Matt Mason, who accomplished the feat in 2001. It was also the first time an NKU player hit three home runs in a game since April 9, 2017, when Trey Ganns hit three homers against Valparaiso. 
 
BOBBY FONG AWARD
The NKU baseball team was named the recipient of the Horizon League's Bobby Fong Award. The award encompasses the league's values of integrity, respect and stewardship and is presented to one current Horizon League student-athlete or team. The award is named for the late Dr. Bobby Fong, a former Butler University president who served on the Horizon League Board of Directors from 2001-2011. The NKU baseball team has historically been the leader of the athletic department in the area of community service and impact. The team participates in a number of volunteer opportunities throughout the Northern Kentucky and Greater Cincinnati areas. This is the second consecutive year that NKU has received the award, as former NKU women's soccer student-athlete Sami Rutowski was named the recipient of the award last year. 
 
GOOGLE CLOUD ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT
Will Haueter was named to the Google Cloud Academic All-District Team, selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). He earned the honor in District 2, which is comprised of NCAA Division I institutions in Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Washington D.C., and West Virginia.
 
Haueter has a 4.0 GPA as a Finance major at NKU. He was recently named the Most Outstanding Student in Finance by the U.S. Bank/Haile College of Business, and he was also the recipient of NKU's prestigious Regents Award.
  
TAKING A LOOK AT THE STATS
Will Haueter leads the team in batting average (.351), slugging percentage (.600), on-base percentage (.448), and doubles (17). Haueter ranks third in the Horizon League in batting average, second in slugging percentage, third in on-base percentage, and first in doubles. Chad Roberts has the most RBIs on the team with 29. He is batting .290 on the year, which is tied for third on the team. Griffin Doersching has hit 13 home runs on the year, which leads the team and ranks second in the Horizon League. As a team, the Norse have hit 60 home runs, which is first in the Horizon League and 21^st nationally. NKU also ranks first in the Horizon League and 16^th in the nation in home runs per game.