The Northern Kentucky University baseball team prepares for its final road swing of the regular season as the Norse travel to Fort Myers, Florida, for a three-game Atlantic Sun Conference series this weekend.
First pitch from Swanson Stadium for Friday’s opener is scheduled for 6:30 p.m., while Saturday’s is set to begin at 2 p.m. Sunday’s finale will start at 1 p.m. Links to live stats and John Asalon’s audio broadcast are available at NKUNorse.com. Fans can also track each game’s progress by following @NKUNorseGameDay on Twitter.
NKU moved to 17-27 overall and 5-10 in the Atlantic Sun after dropping two of three games against Jacksonville at the Bill Aker Baseball Complex last weekend. The Dolphins jumped out to an early lead in the series opener en route to an 11-2 victory before the Norse rebounded with a 7-4 win on Saturday. Jacksonville claimed a 6-5 decision in a back-and-forth finale on Sunday.
Ryan LeFevers went 3-for-7 (.429) with one walk, one run and one stolen base over the last two games of the series, while Trey Ganns batted .400 (4-for-10) with one double, one home run, four RBIs and one run scored. Ganns was also walked three times as Cody Cooper allowed just one run on nine hits with five strikeouts over 11 innings of relief work, including an 8.1-inning performance in Saturday’s win.
ABOUT FGCU: The Eagles fell to 24-22-1 on the year and 7-7 in the conference after suffering a three-game sweep from Lipscomb. The Bisons handed FGCU a 5-1 loss in Friday’s opener before an RBI double from Chucky Vazquez lifted Lipscomb to a 1-0 win in Saturday’s pitchers’ duel. The Bisons completed the sweep with a 4-1 victory in the finale.
Nick Rivera tops the FGCU offense, batting .361 on the year to rank fourth among Atlantic Sun players and lead six Eagles batting over .300. He has driven in 54 runs, which is fourth in the conference, and he is fourth in home runs at nine. Jake Noll, who is hitting .344, has successfully stolen 15 bases in 17 tries, while Tyler Selesky holds a .328 batting average with 10 doubles, two triples and 17 sacrifice hits for FGCU. Brady Anderson (.312), Adam Eggnatz (.305) and Matt Reardon (.302) round out the top Eagles hitters.
The Norse are expected to see a pair of right-handed pitchers this weekend. Mike Murray will take the mound in Friday’s opener. He holds a 3.44 earned run average and 4-6 record over 12 starts, and he leads the Atlantic Sun in strikeouts (84) and innings pitched (81.0). Jordan Desguin will receive Saturday’s start, and he is 5-1 on the year with a 3.12 ERA. He has struck out 48 batters and walked just nine in 52.0 innings of work. Sunday’s starter is still to be determined.
NKU-FGCU SERIES: FGCU is perfect (6-0) in the all-time series with NKU. The two teams opened the rivalry during the 2013 season in Fort Myers, Florida. The Eagles posted a 6-1 victory in the opener before the Norse took them to extra innings the next day with FGCU scoring a run in the 10th for a 3-2 walk-off win. The Eagles completed the sweep on April 28 with a 12-2 decision.
One year ago, NKU suffered a similar fate at the Bill Aker Baseball Complex. The Norse dropped an 8-5 result on May 2 before FGCU claimed a 17-5 victory the following afternoon. A six-run fifth inning in the finale swung the momentum in the Eagles’ favor as FGCU came out on top in a 22-13 slugfest.
LAST SEASON AGAINST FGCU: Cole Bauml went 8-for-12 (.667) from the plate with two doubles and two home runs to lead NKU last season against FGCU. He drove in nine runs, scored three times, stole two bases and drew three walks over three starts. Josh Myers batted .417 (5-for-12) with one double, one triple and four runs scored, while David Head scored five times and drove in two runs on his three hits.
Michael Suchy finished 8-for-12 (.667) for the Eagles, driving home eight runs and scoring nine times, while Nick Rivera, who batted .583 (7-for-12), also recorded eight RBIs and scored seven times one year ago at NKU.
Mike Murray gave up five runs, four earned, on nine hits with six strikeouts over six innings of work for the win in the opener. In that same game, Garrett Anderson pitched 2.2 innings of scores relief to earn the save.
CLIMBING THE LISTS: Cody Cooper and Matt Jefferson are climbing up a pair of NKU’s career pitching lists. Cooper has made 75 appearances for the Norse, which puts him in third place after passing Brett Loeding (2012-13) with his two performances over the weekend. He needs just one more to tie Joe Renner (1989-92), who made 76 appearances in the Black and Gold, for second. Cooper is also eighth in inning pitched at 240.1 and is just six innings behind Lenny Bays (1999-2002) in seventh.
Jefferson currently sits sixth in innings pitched at 256.1, and he needs to 12.2 inning of work to tie Matt Marksbury (2004-07) in fifth place. He has made 13 starts this season to move him into third on the all-time NKU list with 44. Dave Middendorf (2008-11) is second with 47 games started.
BAUML’S RETURN: Cole Bauml returned to the starting lineup over the weekend and picked up his doubles barrage. He recorded his 25th two bagger of the season in Friday’s opener to keep him second nationally. He followed that up with his team-leading eighth home run of the season on Saturday, and he finished the weekend three hits, three walks, one RBI, three runs scored and one stolen base.
The senior outfielder boasts a team-best .377 batting average, and he has driven in 22 runs and scored 33 times. Bauml has successfully stolen 11 bases in 12 attempts, and he holds a .746 slugging percentage, which is fourth-best in the nation.
OUTTA HERE: As a team, NKU recorded three home runs against Jacksonville on Saturday en route to a 7-4 victory. After the Dolphins took an early 3-0 lead, Logan Spurlin sent a two-run blast over the left-field wall to pull the Norse to within one in the second inning, and Cole Bauml tied the game with his eighth homer of the season in the third. Trey Ganns later added an insurance run for NKU with a solo shot over left-center to give the Norse a 6-4 advantage.
The three home runs marks the most NKU has hit in a single game against an NCAA Division I opponent since it began the transition in 2013. The Norse have accomplished the feat four times with the last time coming against Xavier on April 22, 2014, in a 17-8 home victory. NKU has also hit three homers against Loyola Marymount on March 9, 2014, and USC Upstate the following month. The Norse recorded a program-record seven home runs at the Bill Aker Baseball Complex earlier this season in an 18-2 win over Cincinnati-Clermont.
UP NEXT: NKU hits the road one last time for midweek action on Tuesday, May 12 for a 7 p.m. contest at Kentucky before the Norse wrap up the 2015 regular season at the Bill Aker Baseball Complex with a three-game series against Atlantic Sun Conference foe Lipscomb May 14-16. Links to live stats and John Asalon’s broadcast for each contest are available at NKUNorse.com.
From NKU Athletics