HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – The Northern Kentucky University baseball team fell to Troy in its first game of the season, 18-6, on Friday night at Riddle-Pace field. Levi Thomas (W, 1-0) took the win from atop the mound, while Bryson Lonsbury (L, 0-1) took the loss in his first NKU start.

AT THE PLATE

• Jackson Haas had a productive night in his Norse debut, going 2-for-2 with a home run in the final inning. 
• Jake Murray (1-for-5), Collin Luty (1-for-4), JT McGee (1-for-3), Sam Hedges (1-for-2), Tyler Wagner (1-for-1, 2 RBI) and Collin Hohman (1-for-1, 2 RBI) each had a hit.
• Brennan Gick drove in a run thanks to a line out.

ON THE MOUND

• Lonsbury had the opening-night start for NKU. He threw for 2.2 innings, gave up 12 runs and four walks, while delivering a pair of strikeouts. 
• Blaine Walters made his debut in relief, pitching 1.1 innings and gave up four runs.
• Kurt Lange and TJ Graves gave the Norse a pair of scoreless innings with two and one strikeouts, respectively.
• Tyler Ollier and Jake Pease both threw an inning in the seventh and eighth frames, giving up a run each.  

KEY MOMENTS

• Troy drove in six runs in the opening frame after retiring the first three Norse batters via strikeout.
• Lonsbury had a stronger second inning once he settled in, sending Troy's batters down in order with a groundout, a lineout to right and a swinging strikeout.
• Hedges had the first NKU hit of the 2020 campaign with a single to left-center on an 0-2 count. He eventually reached third base after a pair of wild pitches.
• The Trojans offense went off again in the third and brought in another six runs thanks in part to a pair of extra-base hits.
• Luty singled at the top of the fourth but was declared out with Andrew Bacon at the plate for interference.
• Troy tacked on four more runs in its half of the fourth frame, increasing its lead to 16-0.
• The Norse got on the board with a pair of runs in the seventh. Noah Fisher, Gick and Hedges loaded the bases through three-consecutive walks. Fisher and Gick reached home plate thanks to a blooper to left by Wagner.
• The bases were loaded for NKU in the eighth thanks to singles by Haas and McGee, while John Odom reached after getting hit by a pitch. Hohman brought Haas and McGee home with a left-field single to make the score 17-5.
• Haas finished things out on his second at-bat during the final inning by crushing a ball past the left-field fence.

• The Norse square off with Troy again in a doubleheader tomorrow at 1:00 and 4:00 p.m. Both games will be streamed to Facebook on Troy's Athletic page.