May 7, 2002

NKU RANKED 25TH NATIONALLY

Norse to meet Lewis in GLVC first round

HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. - The Northern Kentucky University baseball team - ranked No. 25 nationally in the NCAA Division II poll - will play host to the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament May 9-12, and the Norse will be the No. 1 seed in the postseason event. NKU will meet No. 6 seed Lewis University at 10 a.m. this Thursday at the Bill Aker Baseball Complex at Friendship Field. The Norse are 31-22 overall, 21-8 in the GLVC. Lewis is 28-25 overall, 14-16 in the GLVC. This is the first time since 1989 that NKU has hosted a GLVC Tournament in baseball. The Norse have never won a GLVC Tournament championship. The Norse are led by senior center fielder Justin Rahschulte, who is batting .366 with 15 doubles, seven triples and seven home runs. Rahschulte’s seven triples this season are an NKU record, and he has a .651 slugging percentage. Senior third baseman Pat Eschan is batting .358 with a team-leading 10 home runs. He also has 20 doubles, which ties an NKU single-season record. Senior catcher Jason Martin is batting .339 with seven home runs and 43 runs batted in. He now has 257 hits in his career and needs just seven hits to become NKU’s all-time career leader in that category. Gary Flowerdew is currently NKU’s all-time leader with 263 hits. Senior first baseman Steve Walton is hitting .349 with a GLVC-leading 63 RBI. Walton needs just two RBI to tie the NKU single-season record of 65, set by John Heeter in 1990. Senior right-hander Lenny Bays is 8-2 with a 2.18 earned run average. Bays also has 73 strikeouts and is limiting opposing hitters to a .205 batting average. Freshman reliever Brandon Evans is 4-0 with a 1.62 ERA. Evans also has two saves this season. Senior right-hander Josh Whaley is 7-5 with a 4.80 ERA. Sophomore right-hander Chris Unkraut is 5-4 with 2.97 ERA. GLVC Tournament at NKU, May 9-12   Thursday, May 9 1. NKU vs. Lewis, 10 a.m. 2. Indianapolis vs. Saint Joseph’s, 1 p.m. 3. Missouri-St. Louis vs. SIU Edwardsville, 4 p.m.   Friday, May 10 4. Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2, 10 a.m. 5. Winner Game 1 vs. Loser Game 3, 1 p.m. 6. Winner Game 2 vs. Winner Game 3, 4 p.m.   Saturday, May 11 Schedule to be determined (game times 10 a.m., 1 p.m. & 4 p.m.)   Sunday, May 12 GLVC championship, noon & 3 p.m.* (3 p.m. game if necessary)