Despite being on the road for the third straight weekend, the Northern Kentucky baseball team managed to keep the bats hot and split a four-game series with Western Illinois.

The team moved to 4-7 on the year after this weekend while Western Illinois is now 2-8 record.

In game one of the series, the Norse couldn’t recover after the Leatherheads scored seven runs in the second inning of the game, losing 16-11. Anthony Vagnier helped the Norse stay competitive in the game, going 2 for 5 with 4 RBIs while Trey Ganns went 2 for 2 with 2 RBIs.

In game two, the Norse found themselves down once again, but this time they found a way to come back and win the game. Down 4-3 in the ninth inning, Kyle Colletta singled to center to score Brad Bohlen and tie the score at 4. Ty Amann then hit a deep single to center that scored Colletta from first base for the walk off win, 5-4.

Ganns went 3 for 6 with two doubles while pitcher Pat Kelley posted his best start of the young season, going 6 1/3 innings, striking out four and giving up three runs on four hits.

The Norse carried the momentum into game three, scoring five runs in the first three frames and two runs late to beat the Leatherheads 7-4.

After Jordan Menfee gave up four runs in the top of the first inning, Ganns stepped in and held Western Illinois scoreless in the four innings he pitched. From there, Alex Bolia and Nick Beard continued to shut down the Western Illinois offense, allowing no runs in four innings combined. Ganns shined at the plate as well, going 3 for 4 with 2 RBIs while Mike Moffatt went 3 for 4 with a homerun and 2 RBIs.

The Norse fell in the final game of the series, losing 8-6, despite outhitting the Leatherheads 16-15 and leading in the fifth inning. Freshman Drue Galassi hit two triples for the Leatherheads while going 3 for 4 and scoring 3 runs while his teammate Connor Currier went 4 for 5 at the plate.

The Norse were led once again by Ganns at the plate, who went 2 for 5 with 2 RBIs. Colletta, Brad Bohlen, and Dominic Mercurio all contributed with three hit games. Senior Tyler Miller struck out five batters in 5 1/3 innings of work while only giving up three runs.

The Norse will be on the road again this weekend, when they travel south to face Alabama State for a four-game series starting Friday March 11 at 7 p.m.

The website College Sports Madness honored Ganns Tuesday by naming him the Horizon League baseball player of the week.

For the series, he hit .533 with four doubles and six runs batted in. He also pitched four shutout innings. At the plate, he is on a six-game hitting streak and is hitting .308 with nine walks during the first 11 games of the season.