Greg Moss leads NKU with a 0.56 ERA

HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. - The Northern Kentucky University baseball team will begin play in the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament against Indianapolis at 2 p.m. (EDT) Thursday in Sauget, Ill., and the Norse will enter the double-elimination event as the No. 1 seed.

NKU owns a 38-17-1 overall record, and the Norse won the GLVC regular-season title with a 36-11-1 mark. Indianapolis is the No. 6 seed, and the Greyhounds are 33-22 overall. NKU won three of four meetings with the Greyhounds this season at Florence, Ky.

STINGY PITCHING: The NKU pitching staff enters the GLVC Tournament having tossed three consecutive shutouts. Norse pitchers have combined for 31 consecutive scoreless innings going into Thursday’s game.

NKU’S YEAR: NKU has won the GLVC Tournament in the last two even-numbered years, 2002 and ’04.

In 2002, Jason Martin’s run-scoring single in the eighth inning snapped a 3-3 tie and lifted NKU to a 5-3 win over Saint Joseph’s in the championship game at Highland Heights, Ky. Martin also became NKU’s all-time career hits leader with that single.

In 2004, Brad Baker came out of the bullpen and pitched 4 2/3 innings of two-hit, scoreless baseball as NKU won the GLVC Tournament with a 3-1 victory against Missouri-St. Louis at Sauget, Ill.

ONE-HIT WONDER: Matt Marksbury threw a one-hitter in the opener last Sunday as NKU posted a 1-0 win over Missouri-Rolla. Marksbury, a junior right-hander, struck out seven and walked just one to improve to 6-2 this season.

Marksbury retired the final 11 batters he faced, and he struck out Colby Wilson swinging to end the game. It was his second shutout of the season and fourth complete game.

GOING FOR 40: NKU is seeking to reach the 40-win plateau for the first time since 1989, when the Norse finished 45-9 and were one out away from advancing to the NCAA Division II World Series. Armstrong State rallied to defeat NKU in that game and eventually took the regional title that season.

The Norse also reached the 40-win mark in 1976, ’77 and ’81.

NKU lefty Josh Bruns is 7-1 this season

RUN-PRODUCER: NKU junior right-fielder Matt Wagers ranks No. 2 in the GLVC in runs batted in with 40. Wagers also leads NKU with five home runs, and he is batting .328 (22-for-67) with runners in scoring position this season.

MOSS TOSSES ZEROES: NKU sophomore reliever Greg Moss leads NKU with a 0.56 earned run average. Moss is 5-1 and has struck out 26 batters in 32 1/3 innings on the mound.

He has also limited opposing hitters to a .171 batting average.

THE CLOSER: NKU senior pitcher Steve Thomas leads the GLVC with 10 saves. Thomas is 3-0 with a 0.73 ERA, and earlier this season he set a Norse record by pitching 28 consecutive scoreless innings.

SPEED ON THE BASES: NKU freshman outfielder Kenny Wilson ranks No. 3 in the GLVC in stolen bases with 24. Norse junior shortstop Kory Lonergan is No. 4 in the GLVC with 23 steals.

DEEP ROTATION: NKU junior left-hander Josh Bruns is 7-1 with a 2.76 ERA. Bruns also leads NKU with 57 strikeouts. Norse senior right-hander Paul David Patterson is 5-3 with a 2.07 ERA. Patterson has held opposing hitters to a .179 batting average.