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By Chad Hensley, NKU Sports Information SAUGET, Ill. - Another even-numbered year equals another Great Lakes Valley Conference baseball championship for the Northern Kentucky University Norse. The Norse battled through the loser's bracket and through the weather all weekend before demolishing Saint Joseph's College by a score of 15-4 for their fourth title in seven years. NKU had previously won the GLVC title in 2002, 2004, and 2006. NKU pounded out 20 hits, a single-game season best, and forced the Puma coaching staff to use six pitchers. The scoring was started in the top of the second when Kevin Dusold reached safely on an error by SJC shortstop Matt Reimer, stole second base, and scored on a Brian DeCarlo double to left field. NKU (37-22) added two more runs in the top of the third when a Dusold single scored Evan McDole from second base with one out. McDole had led off the inning with a single and later stole second. Jason Cisper's two-out single through the left side plated Dusold from third base. Cisper's single caused the Puma coaching staff to pull starting pitcher Tim LeBeau (2-1) after 2 2/3 innings. In the meantime, NKU starting pitcher Brandon Slusher (5-2) was cruising along as he retired 12 of 13 batters after giving up a leadoff single in the bottom of the first. After having sat through a downpour yesterday courtesy of the rain that fell on the area, the last thing the Puma coaching staff wanted was to sit through a downpour on the field. That is exactly what the Norse batters forced upon SJC (44-16) as they poured out eight runs in the top of the fifth - all came with two out in the inning. Larry Pempek got things rolling when he singled up the middle. Cisper and DeCarlo followed by reaching on a walk and hit by pitch respectively. Brett Hofmann's single up the middle plated Cisper and Pempek and chased off relief pitcher Jesse Martin in the process. After the pitching change, Jon Back singled through the right side to bring around DeCarlo. Jeff Bohlen then walked to set up Jake Shaffer who drilled a pitch to deep right center for his first triple of the season to clear the bases - Hofmann, Back, and Bohlen scored on the play. The proverbial nail-in-the-coffin came when McDole blasted a two-run homer to deep right field. The long ball was his fifth of the season. When the inning was over, NKU went from having a 3-0 lead to an insurmountable 11-0 advantage and the rout was on. The Norse added three more runs in the top of the sixth - again, all with two outs. Hofmann doubled in Pempek, Bohlen singled in Hofmann, and McDole later singled in Back to give NKU a 14-0 cushion. The Pumas got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the sixth off NKU relief pitcher Cody Besselman. Mike Pericht's double scored Mike Staehle and Reimer, Scott Seider's sacrifice fly plated Matt Wille, and Pat Luehring's single scored Pericht. NKU answered in the top of the seventh courtesy of another RBI double by DeCarlo. Andy Karpowicz closed the door to another GLVC title when he came in relief in the ninth inning and got Luehring and Nick Eyer to strike out before Thomas Zurliene grounded out to DeCarlo at third base. McDole ended the game going 4-for-6 with three RBIs, a run scored, and a homerun. Shaffer was 2-for-4 with three RBIs, a run scored, and a triple while DeCarlo was 3-for-4 with two RBIs, a run scored, and two doubles. Hofmann closed out the multi-hit parade with a 2-for-4 performance and collecting three RBIs, two runs scored, and a double. When all was said and done, all eleven Norse batters that stepped to the plate notched at least one hit. It was also that clutch hitting that helped the Norse score 13 of the 15 runs with two outs. Both NKU and SJC will now advance on to the NCAA Division II North Central Regional on May 15-18 at Standard Bank Stadium in Crestwood, Ill. SJC will serve as the six-team tournament host. NKU earned the sixth seed and will face top seed Grand Valley State University on May 15 at 11:30 a.m. EDT. GVSU won the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference tournament title and won their only meeting of the season with NKU by a final of 6-4 on Feb. 24. SJC is the two seed and will face the Wayne State University Warriors at 8 p.m. EDT. The final game of the opening round will pit the third seeded Knights of Bellarmine University against the fourth seeded Eagles of Ashland University. The BU/AU game will start the tournament at 2:30 p.m. EDT. Jon Asalon and Mike Anderson will be providing play-by-play coverage of every Norse game on www.nkunorse.com. |
