TROY, Ala. – The Northern Kentucky University baseball team fell to Troy on Saturday afternoon by scores of 17-3 and 12-2 at Riddle-Pace Field. The Norse are now 0-3 to start the season while Troy remains undefeated.

GAME 1: TROY 17, NKU 3

AT THE PLATE

• Brennan Gick drove in two of NKU's scores in the final inning of the ball game, going 1-for-3 with a walk to his name. The two-RBI effort ties a career high, which was last done at Oakland on May 4, 2019.
• Griffin Doersching (1-for-1) also plated a run in the ninth as a pinch hitter.
• Collin Luty (1-for-3, BB, 1R), Tyler Wagner (1-for-4) and John Odom (1-for-2) also had hits in the game.

ON THE MOUND

• Nick Noble (L, 0-1) started things off for the Norse, giving up eight runs off of four hits. He also fanned a pair in the 67-pitch outing.  
• Jake Pease relieved Noble in the third, letting in a pair of runs and had a strikeout.
• Jake Dennis gave up five runs through three hits and a couple of walks in the fourth inning.
• TJ Graves had a strong appearance in relief, holding the Trojans scoreless for two innings. He had two walks in the appearance.
• Tyler Murphy threw for two frames, delivering a strikeout and having two runs scoring under his watch.
• Tyler Keith wrapped things up with a scoreless inning in the eighth, fanning one batter in the process.

KEY MOMENTS

• A grand slam by the Trojans gave them a 4-0 early in the first inning. Troy then collected another four runs in the second and tacked on a couple more in the third.
• Luty was the first Norse to reach base with a walk in the fourth inning. Wagner then had the first Norse hit in the following at-bat with a single to left field.
• The Trojans had a strong fourth-frame. With two on through walks, Troy batted a pair of doubles and a home run to haul in five runs, giving the Trojans a 15-0 advantage.
• Troy scored its last two runs of the game in the sixth courtesy of a pair of groundouts with runners on first and third.
• The Norse put it all together in the ninth inning. Billy Marion was hit by a pitch to be the first on base and Luty singled to left field to make it two on. Doersching, pinch-hitting for McGee, sent a ball to left field for an RBI-single to get NKU on the board.
• Odom followed the first score with a blooper to right field to load the bases. Then, on a 3-1 count, Gick played a ball to center to score Doersching and Luty.

GAME 2: TROY 12, NKU 2

AT THE PLATE

• Luty drove in both of NKU's runs, finishing 1-for-2 with a home run.
• Wagner and Wakeham both went 1-for-3 and reached with a walk.
• Hedges and Bacon also had runs in the contest.

ON THE MOUND

• Proctor Mercer started for the Norse and threw for two innings, surrendering four runs off of three hits in that span, while the sophomore struck one out.
• Keith made his second appearance of the day, putting in three innings. He allowed three runs, two walks and punched out two batters.
• Noah Richardson closed out the game for NKU, hurling for three innings and giving up five runs off of seven hits.

KEY MOMENTS

• Hedges kicked off game two with a leadoff single, but was stranded after three-straight outs.  
• Mercer held strong on the mound in the first inning of action and the Norse capitalized in the second. On a 1-2 count, Bacon singled over to center field to lead off the second. Wakeham then reached base with a walk and a chopper by fisher advanced the runners a base each. Luty gave the Norse a 1-0 lead with a sacrifice fly to right field on the ensuing at-bat.
• Three walks loaded the bases in Troy's half of the second inning and a fielder's choice to second base tied things up.
• An extra-base hit and a sac fly scored three more for the Trojans in the third. A frame later, the Trojans scored another three, beginning with a balk with the bases loaded, a wild pitch and a single to center.
• With one out on the board in the fifth, Luty crushed one to left on a full count to make it 7-2.
• Troy had a runner in scoring position in the seventh thanks to a double. The runner was brought home with a sacrifice fly to left field.
• The Trojans rounded out the game with four more runs in the eighth.

UP NEXT

• The Norse will wrap up their four-game set with the Trojans on Sunday at 2:00 p.m. The game will be streamed on Facebook Live.