---Kevin Jordan joins a distinguished few pitchers who can claim two victories in a single GLVC Tournament.

By Mike Anderson, NKU Sports Information

SAUGET, Ill. - The Northern Kentucky University baseball team survived to championship day of the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament after holding on for a 7-6 victory over Southern Illinois at Edwardsville on Saturday.

The Norse once again got on the board early after Jeff Bohlen doubled in Jon Back, who walked and stole second to open the game. Kevin Dusold bounced a single up the middle allowing Bohlen to come in to give the Norse a two-spot early.

The Cougars clawed their way back into the game, scoring a run in the first after Josh Street grounded out to score Cory Bunner, who singled to open the inning. Bunner drove in a run of his own in the second, bringing Michael Hopkins around to knot the score at 2-all.

NKU pitcher Sean Munninghoff, making his first start since March 15, was lifted in the sixth inning after giving up a leadoff single to Street. Kevin Jordan came in and gave up another single, but was able to get out of the frame unscathed.
NKU got the offense going again in the top of the seventh when Brett Hoffman slapped a single up the middle. After Aaron Mentz came in to pinch run, Back proceeded to sacrifice him to second base. Bohlen's groundout to shortstop allowed Mentz to reach third, and Jake Shaffer brought Mentz in with an RBI single to center. Evan McDole followed up with a two-run shot over the right-field wall, his fourth of the season, to extend the lead to 5-2.

The Norse added two more in the top of the eighth on back-to-back RBI singles by Back and Bohlen before the Cougars started their comeback.

After Jordan retired the first batter of the SIUE eighth inning, Street started a rally with a one-out single up the middle. Daniel Thompson followed up by taking a 2-0 offering over the right-field fence to cut the lead to 7-4. Steve Doll kept the rally going with a double to right center that two-hopped to the fence and knocked Jordan out of the game.

SIUE put together another rally in the bottom of the ninth with a four-pitch walk to Norris to open the inning. Bunner followed up with a sharp ground ball to second that Bohlen bobbled just enough to retire Norris at second but prevent the double play. Back-to-back singles loaded the bases for Street, who slapped a two-run single up the middle to bring the lead to just one. A wild pitch on a 2-1 count to Thompson moved runners to second and third, but NKU closer Matt Winterhalter bore down, striking out the game's final two batters to send the Norse to victory.

Jordan (5-0) recorded the victory, his second of the tournament, in 2 1/3 innings of relief. The sophomore allowed two runs on four hits and struck out two batters. Winterhalter got his fourth save after 1 2/3 of work, giving up two runs on three hits and two strikeouts. Munninghoff scattered six hits and surrendered two unearned runs in the start.

Eight NKU starters got hits, with Shaffer and Bohlen each going 2-for-4. Kevin Dusold went 2-for-5 and extended his hitting streak to 20 games, while Larry Pempek also went 2-for-5.

Cody Litteken (5-4) took the loss for SIUE, going 5 1/3 innings in relief of starter David Scott. He gave up three runs on four hits and struck out five batters.

Northern Kentucky (35-22) advances to the championship series on Sunday, and will take on nemesis Bellarmine at 1 p.m. The game can be heard live on nkunorse.com and can be seen at glvcsports.tv. The Knights have defeated the Norse in all five meetings this season, including a 1-0 win in the first game of the GLVC Tournament.

Should the Norse win, they will play again at 4 p.m. for the tournament championship. The GLVC Tournament Champion will receive an automatic qualifier into the six-team NCAA North Central Regional.

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