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By Mike Anderson, NKU Sports Information HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – The bats were working overtime as the Northern Kentucky University baseball team slugged its way to a 14-4 victory over Quincy in Game 1 of Sunday’s doubleheader. After the teams traded two-run outputs in the first inning, Quincy came out with two more in the third on the back of a sacrifice fly by Matt Scoggins and a bases-loaded dotting of Justin Dunning. Unwilling to relinquish the advantage so easily, the Norse came back with a leadoff double by Jeff Bohlen, one of his record-tying three two-base hits on the game, followed by a walk to Evan McDole. After both men moved up on a passed ball, Kevin Dusold brought everyone in with his first triple of the season. Jack Ambrose worked an 0-2 count full before driving in Dusold with a single up the middle, taking a 5-4 lead to boot. An inning later the Norse blew the game wide open with a five-spot in the fourth. Bohlen’s second double of the game drove in Brian Erie, who walked to open the inning. Evan McDole followed with a two-run single before being gunned down at second trying to stretch the hit into a double. Dusold singled to left field and Muth took a pitch on the shoulder to give Shannon McCormick a couple of ducks on the pond to drive in with a double to left center field, leaving NKU with a 10-4 advantage. By the fifth inning the rout was on with the Norse adding to the lead with two-run doubles by Jack Ambrose and Pat Muth, leading to the 14-4 final. Kevin Jordan (2-0) got the win, pitching two innings of relief, giving up one hit while striking out three. Erick Braeckel fanned four in three innings to start, while Brent Wethington punched out a couple of his own in the game’s final two innings. Jordan Backes (0-1) had three walks and three strikeouts in three innings of work for Quincy. Dusold and Bohlen each went 3-for-4 on the contest, scoring seven runs between them. Dusold, Ambrose and Much each drove in three runs, while McCormick and McDole picked up two RBIs each. A four-run seventh inning for the Hawks snapped a 5-5 tie in Game 2 and led to a 9-6 victory for the visitors. Brad Salsman’s single followed by Mike Hallam’s RBI-double was all the action NKU pitcher Jay Hale (0-1) would see in the game’s final frame. A hit batsman by Matt Winterhalter would give the Hawks another run, while a defensive miscue by the middle infield allowed two more runs to score and made the gap too large for the Norse to overcome. Joe Mack went 2-for-2 on the contest, while Jason Cisper went 2-for-3 with his second double of the season. Jared Fisher (2-1) got the win for Quincy (4-6), giving up an unearned run without surrendering a hit, walking two and striking out one. NKU (3-4) returns home on Tuesday to host Tiffin for a non-conference doubleheader in the final home games for the Norse before their Spring Break trip. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. |
