HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. - Northern Kentucky University pitching allowed just one run and six hits during two games Tuesday, and the result was a Norse sweep over the University of Indianapolis.
Derrik Moeves hurled a three-hitter in the opener as NKU posted an 8-1 victory over Indianapolis. Moeves, a sophomore right-hander and a graduate of Highlands High School, struck out seven batters and allowed one unearned run en route to the complete-game win.
Moeves improved to 4-3 this season, and he lowered his earned run average to 2.04. He also leads the GLVC with 74 strikeouts this spring.
Keith Jackson went 2-for-3 with a double and two runs batted in to lead the Norse offense, while Jerrod Fraley added a two-run double for NKU. The Norse scored four times in the second inning, and sealed the win with three runs in the sixth.
Jackson now has 19 doubles this season, which is just three shy of the Norse record. Pat Eschan holds the NKU record with 22 doubles in 2002.
Jackson, a graduate of St. Xavier High School in Cincinnati, Ohio, also raised his batting average to .351 with four hits during the doubleheader.
In the nightcap, Matt Wiedeman scattered three hits in eight innings as NKU defeated Indianapolis, 1-0. Wiedeman, a junior left-hander, picked up five strikeouts and upped his record this spring to 6-1.
After Jeremy Kliewer led off the ninth with a single, NKU closer Justin Seiter was brought in to replace Wiedeman. Seiter retired the next three batters to record his team-leading fifth save of the season.
Jackson went 2-for-4 in the nightcap for NKU, which is 25-19 overall, 18-12 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference. The Norse - who pushed across an unearned run in the third inning for the only score of the contest - have won eight of their last nine games.
NKU will meet Bellarmine University at 1 p.m. Thursday at the Bill Aker Baseball Complex at Friendship Field. The Norse will also play host to Quincy University this weekend in a key four-game series, beginning with a noon doubleheader on Saturday.
Quincy and NKU are in a virtual tie for third place in the GLVC standings. The Hawks - who play a GLVC doubleheader at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville on Wednesday - are 17-11 in the GLVC.
The top six teams in the standings will qualify for the GLVC Tournament, which will be held May 6-9 at Sauget, Ill.
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Derrik Moeves |