The NKU Baseball team came into their weekend series at Milwaukee in a late season funk, losers of their last three games and looking to get back to how they were playing when they won six in a row. NKU was coming off a solid outing on the road the game prior as they gave #12 ranked Tennessee all they could handle before eventually falling 7-5.
Milwaukee (17-28 overall 12-10 in Horizon League) entered the weekend winners of their last two against Northern Illinois and Milwaukee School of Engineering.
After a series opening loss to extend their losing streak, the Norse were able to pull themselves off the proverbial mat and take the last two of the weekend and head home with a series win.
Game One of the series on Friday night was a good one out of the gates. The Panthers took an early lead in the bottom of the first which they held until the top of the third when the Norse bats came alive. A Jakes Paulick single to left scored Gabe Miranda and Logen Devenport to put NKU up 2-1. Marcus Harrison singled to right two batters later, which scored Jake Paulick and Sam Bond and the visitors were up 4-1. However, the Norse bats were silenced from that point forward as Milwaukee plated three runs to tie the score at four. The game headed to extras after both teams couldn’t get a run across and a Panther run in the bottom of the eleventh inning was the difference in an 5-4 walk-off win for the home team.
Conner Linn went 5.2 innings for the Norse giving up eights’ hits and three earned runs all while striking out six. Evan Fry (3-2) took the loss.
Devenport, Bond, Paulick and Tyler Shaneyfelt each contributed two hits apiece for NKU. Paulick and Marcus Harrison each knocked in two runs on the day.
Saturday saw the Norse send Aaron Boster to the mound in the hopes of putting an end to their skid. NKU wasted no time getting on the board as Devenport doubled to left, scoring Shaneyfelt and the Norse were up 1-0. Miranda followed with a single to right which scored Devenport for a 2-0 lead. A Bond ground out scored Miranda from third and to extend the lead to 3-0 and a Paulick ground out scored Josh Williams and NKU had themselves a 4-0 lead out of the gate.
The third inning saw NKU add to their lead after Miranda doubled to left, scoring Devenport. Paulick attempted to steal second but was caught in a pickle. Paulick was tagged out, but it allowed Miranda to score from third and the Norse were up 6-0.
Milwaukee managed to push a run across in the bottom of the fourth to cut it to 6-1, but it was the seventh inning, where the Panthers bats caught fire. Milwaukee was able to score five in the bottom of the inning to tie the game at six and erase what was believed to be an insurmountable NKU lead.
Both teams were unable to push anything across in the eighth and ninth innings and once again they were headed to extra innings.
The twelfth inning was where NKU made their move to close it out. Miranda reached base on a fielder’s choice, allowing Shaneyfelt to score from third and the Norse went ahead 7-6.
Four batters later, Paulick tripled to left field, scoring Miranda and Josh Williams, and the NKU lead went to 9-6. A Marcus Harrison single down the right field line scored Paulick from third to make it 10-6. Ryan Pehrson pitched a scoreless bottom half of the inning and the Norse had evened up the series.
NKU was led by five players with two hits each. Miranda and Paulick both knocked in three runs. Miranda finished the day 2-6 with three runs scored.
Sunday’s rubber match turned out to be another good one as Milwaukee got on the board first 1-0 before NKU took the lead back. Marcus Harrison singled up the middle to score Paulick and Braydon Roger to put the Norse up 2-1 after two.
Williams extended the NKU the lead in the top half of the third after a bunt single to the pitcher scored Shaneyfelt from third.
Milwaukee cut into the Norse lead in the bottom half of the third but gained back the lead by scoring two runs in the bottom of the fifth to take a 4-3 lead.
NKU quickly tied the game back up 4-4 in the top of the sixth on a sacrifice fly from Harrison which scored Williams.
The Norse struck again in the eighth when Sam Bond doubled to left scoring Harrison and Paulick and NKU led 6-4. Milwaukee was held scoreless in the bottom half of the inning but did manage to push another run across in the ninth to account for the final margin and NKU walked away with a series clinching win 6-5.
Gerald Hanson (1-1) got the win for NKU going 2.0 innings and striking out three. Ryan Pehrson earned his first save of the season pitching a scoreless ninth.
Devenport went 2-4 from the plate for the Norse. Harrison was 1-3 with 3 RBI on the day. Bond went 1-1 with 2 RBI.
With the win NKU improved to 26-20 overall and 14-10 in conference to remain in second place in the Horizon League, seven games behind conference leader Wright State. The Norse will get an opportunity to chip away at that Raider lead as they head up I-75 next weekend to take on their rival.
From Dizzy’s Desk
“The guys showed resilience once again. I am just so proud of them and the whole weekend. They left everything they had out on the field. Two extra-inning games after losing the opener, which is tough to do on the road.”
“Big shout out to Sam Bond on coming off the bench to get the go ahead runs in the final game and Ryan Pehrson coming in with bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth. He got a huge double play and then got the next batter to ground out to end the game. It was a huge weekend overall.”
Next Up NKU will get a few days off before hitting the road again to take on conference leader Wright State in Dayton next Friday-Sunday.
