Northern Kentucky Baseball suffered a series loss at Wright State over the weekend. The series leaves the Norse record at 10-18 while Wright State moved to 18-9, the best overall record in the Horizon League.

After a tough 12-1 loss to start off the series on Friday, the Norse battled back on Saturday defeating the Raiders 6-4. After having a 2-0 lead for eight consecutive innings, Wright State put themselves back in the ballgame and scored four runs in the bottom of the eight, eventually sealing the deal for the Raiders.    

After stranding three Raiders on base in the first inning of game one, Wright State quickly scored two runs in the bottom of the second.

The Norse countered in the top of the third inning when Ryan LeFevers was walked on a full count, and ended up stealing second, putting himself in scoring position. A double from Conor Ledger to right field sent Lefevers home, giving the Norse the only run of the game .

Wright State quickly answered back with four more runs to cushion their lead 6-1. A right field single from JD Orr lead off the rally, followed by a walk by Mitch Roman and a single up the left side by Ryan Fucci sending Orr home. An error from shortstop Dominic Mercurio with the bases loaded extended the inning and put the Norse in a huge hole. The Norse ended up losing game one 12-1.

Looking for their first Horizon League win, NKU rebounded from Friday’s tough loss with a win on Saturday. Runs from Logan Spurlin, Trey Ganns and Dominic Mercurio put the Norse in the lead 3-2 early in the game.

Ganns found his way on base again in the fifth after doubling to left field, and eventually scored along with Mike Moffatt to give the Norse a 5-2 lead. Ganns scored again in the seventh, after being walked and a single up the middle from Moffatt, allowing Ganns to cross the plate.

The Norse allowed one more run from Wright State in the bottom of the ninth, but Spurlin turned a double play at the plate to tie the series 1-1, and defeating the Raiders 6-4.

Spurlin started Sunday’s game off hot with a 2 run homer to left field, giving the Norse the lead early while extending his hitting streak to 12 games.

NKU right hander Pat Kelley threw a career-high 7.2 innings with three strikeouts and nine hits and held Wright State scoreless through the first seven innings of play.

Wright State stormed back in the bottom of the eighth however, with four hits and four runs scored. Pinch hitter Zach Weatherford started the rally with a single to center, followed by a couple of more singles from Ryan Fucci and Mitch Roman to put the Raiders back in the ball game, leading 4-2 with one inning left to play.

The Norse put together a rally in the 9th inning, but could not regain the lead. Moffatt doubled down the rightfield line, allowing Spurlin’s’ pinch runner to score. Will Haueter left the bases full of Norse and the potential winning run stranded after grounding out to third in the top of the ninth.

NKU will be back in action Tuesday afternoon at Bill Aker Baseball Complex, where they will face the Miami Redhawks in the first game of a two game series. The Norse will then play a three game home series against UIC starting on Friday night.