The Northern Kentucky University baseball club team is hoping for a bounce back season. A more experienced roster may raise opportunities for the team to rebound from last year’s 1-5 record.

“We have a lot of returning upperclassmen,” President Andrew Hovekamp said. “This should give us a clear-cut advantage this spring over other teams.”

One of the problems the club is facing is finding a field to host games. Previously, games were held on NKU’s campus at the Bill Aker Baseball Complex, according to former club president Keegan Davis.

But scheduling conflicts with the Norse varsity baseball team as well as renovations to the on-campus field forced the club team to use Meinken Field in Latonia, Ky., for the site of their home games.

The team will be competing this year in the second division of the National Club Baseball Association.

The NCBA is a national league, divided into regional districts.

Regional districts are split into different divisions based on a college’s enrollment.

Each district champion advances to a national tournament at the end of the season.

The club provides baseball fans the opportunity to compete without the pressures of participating full-time on the NCAA team.

“The club team was started by a group of guys who just wanted to play baseball,” Jill Kleiser, assistant director of campus recreation, said. “They wanted something more competitive than intramural softball.”

Story by Jeff Kleynenberg