NKU baseball uses late-inning rally to defeat Morehead State

A four-run seventh inning propelled the Northern Kentucky Norse baseball team to an 8-3 win over the Morehead State Eagles on a rainy Tuesday afternoon.

Freshman Trey Ganns sparked the Norse offense, going 2-for-2 with a home run and a pair of walks. Cole Bauml, Taylor Sears, and Caleb Lonkard each collected two hits as well in the victory.

Matt Jefferson pitched six innings of two-run baseball, allowing seven hits and three walks while striking out three.

NKU (6-13) took an early 3-0 lead in the first inning. Bauml led off with his nation-leading 18th double of the season, and then came around to score on an RBI single by Cody Kuzniczci. The Norse added two more runs that same inning on a David Head RBI double and a Ryan LeFevers RBI groundout.

Morehead State (11-11) got on the board in the third inning on a Robby Spencer RBI double. The Eagles tacked on another run on an infield single by Nick Newell to cut the deficit to one.

The Norse had a chance to extend their lead in the fourth inning after loading the bases with only one out, but reliever Aaron Goe ended the scoring threat by striking out Kyle Colletta and getting Kuzniczci to line out to left field.

The Eagles tied the game at three in the seventh inning on a two-on, two-out RBI double by Newell, who had himself a three-hit day. The runner at first base tried to come all the way home to score, but a perfect relay by NKU nabbed him at the plate, preventing Morehead State from taking the lead.

The Norse responded in the bottom half of the inning, as Ganns connected on his first collegiate home run, a two-run shot to break the tie and put NKU on top for good. A couple of throwing errors later in the inning gave the Norse a 7-3 advantage.

NKU scored its final run in the eighth inning on a Ryan Hinz RBI single that scored Logan Spurlin.

The Norse have now won four of their last five games after losing 12 of 14 to start the season. They’ll look to keep the momentum going tomorrow as they host the Wright State Raiders at 3 p.m.