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FLORENCE, Ky. - If Northern Kentucky University is going to defend its Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament championship later this week, the Norse will have to win one game Monday afternoon against Indianapolis. And that will be just to qualify for the GLVC Tournament, which begins Thursday at Sauget, Ill. NKU could have clinched a spot in the GLVC Tournament in its home finale Sunday, but Missouri-Rolla spoiled the Norse’s Senior Day with a 4-3 win. NKU dropped to 27-24 overall, 22-14 in the GLVC. NKU is tied for third place in the GLVC standings, and the top six teams qualify for the league’s postseason event. The Norse need to win once Monday during a doubleheader at Indianapolis to clinch a berth in the GLVC Tournament. Four teams - Southern Illinois at Edwardsville, Southern Indiana, Drury and Bellarmine - have clinched spots in the GLVC Tournament. NKU, Saint Joseph’s, Indianapolis and Quincy are vying for the remaining two berths. Missouri-Rolla defeated NKU for the second time in the three-game weekend series Sunday despite committing five errors. The Miners held a 4-1 lead going into the bottom of the eighth inning, but NKU rallied on the strength of Larry Pempek’s two-run single to cut the deficit to 4-3. The Norse had the tying run in scoring position in the bottom of the ninth after Jon Back reached on an error and stole second base. Missouri-Rolla reliever Ben Sherman, however, ended the threat by getting Kory Lonergan to fly out to right field. Pempek and Matt Wagers each had three hits to lead the NKU offense. Pempek drove in all three runs for NKU, while Wagers scored twice in his final home game. NKU stranded nine runners on base and was unable to capitalize on the errors by Missouri-Rolla. Josh Lueke went 6 1/3 innings and took the loss for NKU, which has won GLVC Tournament titles in 2002, ’04 and ’06.
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