DAYTON, Ohio – The Northern Kentucky baseball program played one of its most exciting games of the year, but in the end the Norse found themselves on the wrong side of a 12-9 thriller to Wright State in a winner-take-all regular-season finale at Nischwitz Stadium on Saturday.
With the win, the Raiders claimed the Horizon League title for the sixth straight year.
NKU's record-setting year will continue as the Norse head back to Wright State for the conference championships. Northern Kentucky will enter the Horizon tournament as the No. 2 seed overall.
THE BASICS
FINAL: Northern Kentucky – 9, Wright State – 12 (9 innings)
LOCATION: Nischwitz Stadium – Dayton, Ohio
RECORDS: NKU 32-22 (19-11 HL), WSU 31-22 (20-10 HL)
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
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Liam McFadden-Ackman returned to his historic pace with a 2-for-5 outing that featured two home runs, two RBI and two runs scored. The standout senior ends the regular season as the Horizon leader in homers (21), RBI (73), runs (64), slugging percentage (.760), on-base plus slugging percentage (1.260) and walks (56).
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Mitch Wood and
Peyton Lane had big efforts for NKU as well. Wood went 3-for-5 with two RBI and one run while Lane chipped in a 2-for-3 day with two RBI and a run scored.
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Cleary Simpson (1-for-3, one RBI, one run, one walk),
Logen Devenport (2-for-2, one RBI, two runs scored, two bases on balls) and
Treyvin Moss (one RBI) all knocked in runs for the Norse.
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Brennan Rowe (2-for-5) and
Jake Paulick both added a run apiece, respectively.
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Andrew Mulhern threw 1.1 scoreless innings of relief.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Wright State dropped six runs on Northern Kentucky in the bottom of the first to take an early 6-0 lead.
- The Norse started to fight back with a run of their own in the top of the fourth off a solo shot from McFadden-Ackman to make it a 6-1 game.
- NKU continued to chip away with another run in the top of the sixth, courtesy of a RBI-double by Devenport to cut the WSU edge to 6-2.
- Wright State responded right back with a single run in the bottom half of the inning to push its advantage to 7-2.
- The two sides saved their best for last to complete the thriller.
- Northern Kentucky got two runs around in the top of the seventh, which was quickly answered with two Wright State runs in the bottom of the frame to keep the Raiders' advantage at 9-4.
- The Norse then turned up the pressure with two runs in the top of the eighth and another three in the ninth to tie things up at 9-9. NKU found themselves down to its last out before Lane sent a base knock through the left side that drove in Paulick and Devenport to knot things at 9-9.
- The tied game was short lived as Wright State walked things off in the bottom of the ninth with a three-run blast to seal the victory.
NEXT UP
The Norse will have a few days of rest before returning to Wright State for the 2024 Horizon League Championship. Northern Kentucky will enter the tournament as the No. 2 seed and gets its stay underway on Thursday, May 23. While the opponent is still to be determined, first pitch for NKU's tourney opener is set for 3 PM ET.
Fans and supporters looking to make the short trip out can
purchase their tickets here ($10 for a day pass, $30 for a tournament pass). The entire tournament will also be played in front of a national audience on ESPN+.
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