HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – The Northern Kentucky University baseball team opened Horizon League play with a 13-5 win over Youngstown State on Friday. NKU moves to 2-12 overall and 1-0 in the Horizon League, while Youngstown State falls to 1-15 on the season and 0-1 in league play.
 
AT THE PLATE

• The Norse had eight players record a hit in the contest.
• Sam Hedges led the way with a 4-for-6 showing at the plate, which included two doubles, three RBI and a run scored.
• Andrew Bacon was 3-for-4 with a home run, four RBI and two runs scored.
• Jayden Wakeham also went 3-for-4. He recorded a double, two runs scored and an RBI.
• Griffin Doersching batted 2-for-5 with a home run, a double, two RBI and a run.
• Noah Fisher finished the game 2-for-5 at the plate with three runs scored.  

 
ON THE MOUND

• Sam Williams (W, 1-4) got the start and earned the win on the mound. He went 5.1 innings, allowing three runs on seven hits. He also struck out two batters.
• Cameron Ross came out of the bullpen to relieve Williams. He allowed two runs, but only one was earned.
• Joe Martin picked up a save for firing three scoreless innings. He faced 10 batters, striking out four of them.

 
KEY MOMENTS

• YSU took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second. Drew Dickerson doubled in the inning, and he came home on an RBI single by Tanner Montgomery.
• The Norse went ahead 2-1 in the bottom half of the second. Hedges hit a double down the left field line that scored Bacon and Wakeham.
• YSU retook the lead in the fifth inning. Philip Glasser hit an RBI double, and Jeff Wehler added an RBI single to make the score 3-2.
• NKU crossed the plate four times in the bottom of the fifth to go ahead 6-3. Hedges led off the inning with a double, and Griffin Kain singled in the next at-bat. Hedges came home on an RBI single by Haueter. Later in the frame, Bacon hit a two-run single to bring home Kain and Haueter. The final run came from Fisher, who hit a single in the inning, and he scored on a single by Wakeham.
• The Penguins loaded the bases in the top of the sixth, but NKU escaped the jam without allowing a run.
• YSU scored two runs in the top of the seventh to make the score 6-5. The Penguins scored on an error, and Trevor Wiersma hit an RBI groundout in the frame.
• NKU added a run in the seventh inning. Collin Luty reached on a fielder's choice, and Fisher came home on the play.
• Doersching hit a two-run homer in the eighth inning to put NKU ahead 9-5. Bacon followed with a two-run homer of his own to push the score to 11-5. Luty added an RBI double, and Hedges hit an RBI single to give the Norse the 13-5 lead.

 
 
GAME NOTES

• The Norse had a 17-8 advantage in hits during the game.
• Each team committed two errors.
• Doersching's homer was his second of the year, and Bacon's home run was his first of 2019.

 
UP NEXT

• NKU plays YSU on Saturday, March 16. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m., and the game will be broadcast on ESPN3.