A historically lopsided weekend exposed every crack for the Oakland Golden Grizzlies baseball team (10-29, 5-13 Horizon), which was overwhelmed in all three games of a road sweep by the Northern Kentucky Norse, including a 30-run outburst in the series opener.
The sweep keeps Oakland anchored in last place in the Horizon League standings, now trailing the Youngstown State Penguins by 2.5 games as the season starts to slip further out of reach.
Game 1: Oakland 9, Northern Kentucky 30
Oakland struck first with a solo home run shot from Aidan Orr in the opening inning, briefly grabbing a 1-0 lead before the game quickly spiraled.
Northern Kentucky responded immediately, as the Norse erupted for five runs in the bottom of the first. An RBI triple from Josh Williams sparked the Northern Kentucky rally, which was highlighted by a two-run home run courtesy of Mark Nowak to put the Norse ahead 5-1.
The game broke open in the second inning, when Northern Kentucky sent every batter to the plate twice and piled up 12 runs on nine hits, ballooning their lead to 17-1.
Oakland answered briefly in the third, highlighted by a three-run home run from Lucas Day, but the momentum was short-lived as the deficit remained overwhelming at 17-6.
Any hope of an Oakland comeback vanished in the following two innings as the Norse added seven runs in the third and six runs in the fourth to stretch the lead to an astonishing 30-6.
Oakland added a few late runs, including a home run from Carter Hain, yet the daunting, nearly video-game-like lead the Norse possessed was clearly too much for the Golden Grizzlies to overcome.
By the end of the seventh, the Norse were the clear winners of game one by way of the run rule, tying their record for the largest margin of victory over Oakland dating back to a matchup in 2024.
Additionally, in their time as a Division I program, this marks the most runs scored by Northern Kentucky in a game.
Game 2: Oakland 0, Northern Kentucky 10
Looking to capitalize on their record-breaking win, the Norse did just that in game two. With two runners on in the bottom of the first, Marcus Harrison knocked in a three-run home run to give Northern Kentucky an early lead.
Following Harrison’s homer, Ethan Thomas added another in the bottom of the third before Jake Paulick hit a two-run home run in the fourth to give Northern Kentucky a 6-0 advantage.
The Norse kept the pressure on in the fourth, as a sacrifice fly from Nowak and another home run, this time off the bat of Landon Springmeyer, for two runs, adding to the cushion. An RBI double courtesy of Williams in the fifth extended Northern Kentucky’s lead to double-digits at 10-0.
With no response from the Golden Grizzlies, the Norse decisively took game two. Similar to game one, the run rule ended the game in the seventh inning.
Offensively, Oakland never found its footing against Norse pitchers Ej Miramontes and Elijah Green. The duo held Oakland to just five hits and were responsible for the first time Northern Kentucky has shut out Oakland in 63 all-time meetings.
Game 3: Oakland 3, Northern Kentucky 9
Northern Kentucky set the tone early once again, as Paulick blasted a two-run home run to left field in the bottom of the first. Paulick followed up in the second inning as well, tallying two more runs for the Norse with a single to put Northern Kentucky up 4-0 early.
With no response from Oakland, the Norse extended their advantage through the following two innings, with Nowak registering an RBI single in the third, Williams notching an RBI double, and Harrison lining up the middle for an RBI single in the fourth.
Come the fifth inning, Northern Kentucky’s Alex Brazer cleared the fences with a two-run home run, marking five straight scoring innings for the Norse, as Northern Kentucky now led 9-0.
The Golden Grizzlies showed some life late, by way of an error. Following a single from Ben Clark, a throwing error by Norse pitcher Tannis Lange allowed Clark to score, making it a 9-1 ball game.
Oakland took advantage of their momentum heading into the seventh, as Aidan Schuck hit a single before making it home thanks to a Tony Konopiots double. Konopiots then came around to score as an RBI single from Hain cut into the deficit, 9-3.
However, the late push proved too little, too late, as Northern Kentucky shut the door on the Oakland offense the rest of the game, allowing just two Golden Grizzly hits through the final two innings, giving the Norse the series victory.
Across the three-game stretch, Oakland was outscored 49-12, unable to put a lid on Northern Kentucky’s offense or generate sustained momentum at any point in the series.
On Deck
Up next, the Golden Grizzlies will look to regroup quickly as they take a short trip to take on the Toledo Rockets for a single game on Wednesday, April 29.
Taking a look at Toledo, they’ve amassed a 20-24 overall record this season with a 15-9 record in conference play and are coming off a series win against Bowling Green on the road. Additionally, the Rockets are 1-1 against Horizon League opponents this season, with a win against the Norse in March and a loss to Oakland earlier this April.
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