NKU baseball hosted their first home game of the season on Tuesday against the Dayton Flyers.
After getting swept in their season opener against East Tennessee State University, the Norse bounced back with a sweep of their own last weekend against Bellarmine, scoring 42 total runs over a three-game stretch. NKU looked to extend their three-game win streak and improve their record above the .500 mark.
To start the game, pitcher Bobby Bartlett struck out Aiden Heberlie. After a bloop single by Michael DiMartini and an error on the throw down to second base by the catcher Sam Bond, the Flyers had a man on third base with only one out. Dayton cashed in with a sacrifice fly by Rylan Rujo to go up 1-0.
In the bottom of the first inning, Nolan Sparks lined a base hit into left field and stole second base to put a runner in scoring position. After an infield hit and a walk by Tyler Shaneyfelt and Logen Devenport, the Norse loaded the bases with nobody out. The Flyers’ starting pitcher Carson Samuels got one strikeout but nailed Bond in the shoulder to bring in the game-tying run.
Samuels was replaced on the mound by Jackson Judy. On the first pitch, the designated hitter Braydon Rogers roped a single into left field and plated two to take the lead 3-1. After a walk, Samuels got out of the bases-loaded jam with back-to-back strikeouts.
In the top of the second inning, Bartlett tidied things up with a one-two-three inning to get the bats back up to the plate while they were hot. The Norse did not disappoint with Nolan Sparks lacing a hard-hit single into left field for his second hit of the day and swiping second base for his third steal of the game. Shaneyfelt, determined to get some insurance runs, saw his pitch and crushed it into deep right field for a two-run home run, extending his RBI total to three and their lead to 5-1.
After a walk and a stolen base by Devenport, one of the best hitters in the country, Gabe Miranda joined in and mashed a home run of his own to deep center field to extend their lead even further to 7-1.
Judy was replaced by Ayden Tran in an attempt to stop the bleeding, but no one could stop the hot bats of the Norse as they added five more runs, capped off by a Devenport two-run single to extend their lead to 12-1 after a nine-run inning.
To start the third inning, Dayton chipped away at the deficit with a DiMartini home run to deep left-center field to cut the lead down to 12-4. Rylan Lujo followed it up with a double to keep things rolling for the Flyers.
Bartlett responded with a strikeout after being down 3-1 in the count to Bobby Stang but loaded the bases to bring up one of the Flyers’ hottest hitters in Martin Howell. Bartlett was replaced by MJ Castaneda who got the Norse out of the jam.
In the bottom of the third inning, the Flyers made the call to the bullpen and brought in James Heller. With a runner on first, Brennan Rowe centered up a ball and hammered it into left-center field for a double. Rounding third base, Bond was gunned down by Aiden Heberlie to keep the deficit right where it was.
To start the fourth inning, Dayton continued to claw their way back into the game as Lujo hit a two-run double to cut the lead down again to 12-6. In NKU’s half of the inning, Braylen Harlamert woke up the bats with a lead-off single. Marcus Harrison bunted him over to second base and Sparks was pegged in the helmet to put runners on first and second with one out. Ben Dean balked, letting the runners advance but got out of the inning unscathed after a strikeout and a groundout to keep the lead at 12-6.
In the fifth inning, after a catcher interference that resulted in a double play, the Flyers had back-to-back doubles by Alejandro Sardinas and Heberlie to shorten the margin to 12-7. In the next half inning, NKU got that run back through the powerful bat of Miranda who launched his second home run of the game. The Norse went down one-two-three following the solo shot, but the lead had been extended to 13-7.
To start the sixth inning, the Flyers finally broke through, scoring four runs that were capped off by a two-run home run by Howell to draw dangerously close at 13-11. NKU’s struggles continued as Dean shoved on the mound, leaving the Norse with no runs in three of their last four innings.
To start the seventh, Jared Teke took the mound nursing a two-run lead. After Sardinas singled, Heberlie came to the plate and launched a game-tying two-run home run, erasing an 11-run deficit and drawing even with the Norse. After back-to-back walks, the Flyers had the go-ahead run at third base with only one out. Evan Fry replaced Teke and forced a ground ball, however, that was enough to get the go-ahead run across as NKU found themselves trailing for the first time in this game, down 14-13.
Fry got out of the inning, and the Norse offense responded accordingly by matching the Flyers with three runs of their own to take back the lead, punctuated by a Devenport home run, which was NKU’s fourth of the game.
Entering the eighth, NKU led 16-14 and the score stayed that way with both teams putting their best efforts on the mound in an attempt to salvage a win in this high-scoring affair.
In the ninth, Fry took the mound for a third-straight inning attempting to get his first save of the season. Fry shut down the Flyers, striking out two and getting the Norse a hard-fought win to advance their record to 4-3 on the year.
NKU takes on Miami this Friday and looks to keep the bats hot. First pitch will be at 3 p.m. at McKie Field at Hayden Park.