HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – Northern Kentucky Baseball (0-8, 0-0 HL) plays one more road series before its first home game of the season. The team will take on Samford (6-1, 0-0 Southern) this weekend in a four-game set. Every game of the weekend will be streamed to ESPN3.
NORTHERN KENTUCKY at SAMFORD
Friday, Feb. 28 – Birmingham, Alabama – 5:00 p.m. ET // 4:00 p.m. CT – Live Stats – Video
Saturday, Feb. 29 (DH) – Birmingham, Alabama – 2:00 p.m. ET // 1:00 p.m. CT – Live Stats – Video -- Live Stats (G2) -- Video (G2)
Sunday, March 1 – Birmingham, Alabama – 2:00 p.m. ET // 1:00 p.m. CT – Live Stats – Video
SERIES HISTORY
This is the first-ever meeting between the Norse and the Bulldogs
LAST TIME OUT
NKU dropped a one-off matchup with No. 24 Tennessee on Tuesday night in Knoxville, 15-1. The Volunteers capitalized on a slew of walks to put up 12 runs in the first-four innings. Noah Richardson (0-1, 16.20 ERA) took the loss in his first-ever start. Jake Murray had the best night for NKU, going 2-for-4 and knocking the only run in with a solo-homer in the sixth inning.
SCOUTING SAMFORD
Samford comes into the series on a three-game winning-streak after sweeping last weekend's contests against Austin Peay (W, 6-0), Middle Tennessee (W, 5-3) and Lipscomb (W, 7-3).The Bulldogs' only loss this season came in a 9-4 result at Belmont. Three batters are hitting at an exceptional rate so far: Brooks Carlson (.565/.706/.913), Will David (.462/.529/.538) and Taylor Garris (.375/.483.667).
Samuel Strickland (2-0, 0.00 ERA), a southpaw, will get the Friday evening start for Samford. He's given up just six hits and a walk through 11 innings pitched. Right-hander Jaron Long (0-1, 7.50 ERA) and lefty Hamp Skinner (0-0, 5.40 ERA) will start game one and two, respectively, of Saturday's doubleheader. Long's last start was the Bulldogs' loss to Belmont, where he gave up five earned in four innings of work, while Skinner allowed a pair in 4.1 innings against Middle Tennesee. Sunday's start is TBA.
PROBABLES
Jared Flueck (0-1, 8.38 ERA) will get his third start of the year for the Norse. He leads NKU in innings pitched, going 4.2 and 5.0 innings in both of his starts, respectively. Kyle Service (0-1, 11.25 ERA) will work the mound for game one in Saturday and Bryson Lonsbury (0-1, 14.54 ERA) will look to repeat last week's solid six-inning performance in game two. Sunday's starter is still to be announced.
HOME-RUN KING
NKU returns the reigning College Home Run Derby Champion for the 2020 season. Griffin Doersching, a junior, took the 10th annual prize in Omaha, Nebraska, last June after clubbing 20 home runs to Tyler Keenan's (Ole Miss) 15 in the final round. In the 2019 season, Doersching smacked 13 out of the park, had a .503 slugging percentage and drove in 44 runs. He is just three home runs from being second on the all-time Norse leaderboard.
Doersching is off to a great start in the 2020 campaign with a slash line of .296/.333/.370. He has a pair of extra-base hits and has driven in six runs. His next RBI will be the 100th of his career.
MURRAY MONSTER
Jake Murray is off to a strong start in his senior campaign as the Cincinnati native holds a .303/.313/.576 slash line. He's the first Norse to reach double-digit hits on the year, has raked in six runs and has two homers--which is tied for the most in the Horizon League.
ROOKIES GETTING IT DONE
A trio of NKU freshmen have had solid starts to the 2020 year. John Odom and Tyler Wagner have impressed in their seven and eight appearances, respectively. Odom is currently second on the team in batting average, hitting at .300 and leads the Horizon League with five stolen bases. Wagner has made seven starts this season, bats .269 and has plated a pair. Jackson Haas made his debut in a series against Troy and became the only Norse in the Division I era to hit a homer in his debut. It was also just the second time in the Division I era where a Norse sent one out of the park in the season opener, the first coming from Brad Clement against Lamar in 2013. He is currently batting at a .273 rate.
NEW YEAR, NEW ME
The 2020 edition of the Norse boasts a crowd of familiar faces as all but one position player returns from last year's lineup. The only batter missing from the Norse is the now-graduated Will Haueter, who is the all-time doubles leader for NKU. Andrew Bacon is the top returning hitter for NKU with a .269/379/461 slash line from 2019. The Norse also benefit from the return of slugger Doersching.
In total, 15 players joined the Norse over the offseason, ranging from freshmen to junior college standouts: Michael Bohlen, Jared Flueck, Haas, Tyler Keith, Kyle Klingenbeck, Kurt Lange, Lonsbury, Jon (JT) McGee, Treyvin Moss, Luke Murray, Nick Noble, John Odom, Jake Pease, Wagner and Blaine Walters.
A NEW CAST ON THE MOUND
With departures-galore from the bullpen, Northern Kentucky plucked a bunch of JUCO arms to reload its pitching staff. RHP Bryson Lonsbury joins the Norse from Dyersburg State Community College after going 4-0 last season thanks to a 2.17 ERA and 32 strikeouts in 45.2 innings pitched. Also joining him from Dyersburg State is Nick Noble, a sophomore righty, who went 3-0 last year and posted an impressive 33 strikeouts in 27 innings thrown.
JT McGee will be a southpaw for NKU. Coming from Lincoln Trail College, the junior sported a 2.60 ERA last season and had 31 strikeout in 27.2 innings. Jared Flueck will also be crucial for the Norse after an 8-1, 3.26 ERA campaign at Olney Central College last year.
Although the Norse bring in a lot of new arms, they are not without returners. Kyle Service and Proctor Mercer remains with the Norse after starting 15 and 13 games, respectively, last year.
TWO DECADES AND COUNTING
Head Coach Todd Asalon is in his 20th season at NKU, owning a 547-546-1 record with the Norse. He guided the Norse through their Division I transition, which began in the 2013 season, and helped NKU post its winningest Division I season in 2017 with a 25-33 record. Prior to the Division I era, he led NKU to the NCAA Division II tournament in eight-consecutive seasons.
Joining Asalon on his staff are his assistants and former Norse Dizzy Peyton (13th season) and Pat Hyde (fifth season). Accompanying them is Matthew James, who is in his first season as assistant coach after spending a year at Xavier.
