The USI baseball team hosted the Northern Kentucky Norse on Tuesday night at USI Baseball Field. The team entered the game following back to back wins against the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. The bats were hot in the last two games as USI scored a combined 18 runs on Saturday and Sunday, with a team batting average of .392 over the past two games. The Eagles looked to continue this run of to improve to a record of 13-15 overall.
For Northern Kentucky, they entered the game with a record of 14-12, looking to win a second game in a row following a victory against The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
The conditions for the game were near perfect, 60 degrees Fahrenheit, cloudy, with slight wind conditions, a far cry from the rain that had plagued the Tri-State area for the past week. The special for the night was Taco Tuesday, featuring $2 tacos.
USI’s Lineup for the night featured an outfield of B.J. Banyon, senior outfielder in left, Khi Holiday, senior outfielder in center and Cameron Boyd, sophomore outfielder in right. The infield was composed of Patrick McLellan, junior outfielder at third base, Clayton Slack, junior infielder at shortstop, while Parker Martin, sophomore infielder and Kannon Coakley, junior infielder, were at second and first base. At designated hitter, Cole Kitchens, junior infielder, looked to continue a hot hitting streak, as he has batted above .400 for his last 14 games, a remarkable feat.
The battery featured Sage Stout, freshman pitcher and Micajah Wall, junior catcher. Stout entered the game with a record of 2-1 and an ERA (Earned Run Average/Runs given up per nine innings) of 6.19 in a total of 16 innings pitched.
(Will Kessinger)
The first inning started out somewhat auspiciously as Stout hit the opening batter and gave up a single to center field to the next. However, he was able to strike out the number three hitter and get a second out thanks to Wall throwing out a runner attempting to steal third base. He then struck out the final batter of the first inning, a solid closing to the opening inning.
In the bottom of the first inning, Boyd flew out to center field for the first out. However, Holiday and Kitchens, the next two batters were both able to get onto base with two singles apiece. Unfortunately, McLellan, batting cleanup, flew out to Center Field and Holiday was thrown out attempting to score on the sacrifice fly, for the third out.
The second inning opened somewhat oddly, as the opening batter singled to RF, but got caught in the rundown for the first out. The second batter was able to reach first after a single to right field. Stout was able to close out the inning, despite giving up two hits, striking out a batter and forcing a fly out for the third out.
In the bottom of the second, the Eagles looked to not repeat the errors of the first inning, which saw them leave runners in scoring position. They needed to play smart baseball and force long at bats. Coakley did just that, as he forced an opening walk to begin the inning. Slack, next up to bat, flew out to right field, but Banyon, the third batter of the inning singled to center field, bringing a runner closer to scoring position.
Martin then brought in a runner after singling into center field, 1-0 USI. Then Wall hit a screamer to right field, which brought in another run, Banyon and left Wall at third with a triple. Martin was thrown out attempting to reach home for the second out. Then Boyd grounded to the short stop for the third out. USI scored two runs in the inning, opening a two run gap.
The top of the third went smoothly, as Stout was able to get three outs going through only three batters. The opening batter popped up, the second batter walked, but the final batter hit into a double play ball, getting the second and third outs to end the inning.
To begin the bottom of the third inning, Northern Kentucky brought in a relief pitcher, which was a sign of things to come. Khi Holiday, looking to redeem himself, drew a walk on the first at bat and stole second with his blazing speed. He was then able to advance to third base after Kitchens grounded out to second base for the first out. Holiday wasn’t done flying across the bases, as he scored a run off of a wild pitch giving USI a 3-0 lead. USI would have to wait to score more runs as both McLellan and Coakley grounded out into the infield for the second and third outs. Still, it was a successful inning for USI.
The top of the fourth inning once again looked promising for Stout, as he got the first two batters out, one of which through a strikeout, his fourth of the game. The third batter broke the mini hitting drought that was going on with a double to center field. However, the final batter flew out to right field for the final out.
USI, now having scored runs for three straight innings, looked to continue this streak in the bottom of the fourth. Clayton Slack opened the inning with a double to center field. Banyon, next up to bat, singled down the line to right field, scoring Slack from second base, growing the lead to four. Unfortunately Banyon attempted to turn the single into a double and was thrown out at second, for the first out. Martin, the subsequent batter, flew out to left field for the second out. Wall, the fourth batter, drew a walk, but Boyd grounded out to third base to close the inning. USI continued the streak of scoring to four straight innings.
In the top of the fifth inning, USI manager Chris Martinez, made some changes bringing Hunter Miller, junior outfielder, in for Banyon, perhaps as a teaching moment, to not get too greedy out on the bases. They all also made a change at pitcher, bringing in Aaron Rubio, sophomore pitcher. He entered the game with a 5.87 ERA in 15 innings of work on the season.
Stout pitched a solid outing giving up only three hits and two walks. Additionally, he had four strikeouts, and didn’t give up a run. You can’t ask for much more from a pitcher, solid performance.
Rubio’s opening inning continued a solid pitching performance for USI as he was able to have a 1-2-3 inning getting all three batters out with ease, one of which was a strikeout.
The Bottom of the fifth inning saw Northern Kentucky bring in another relief pitcher to try to get another look. Holiday, now up to the plate, was hit by a pitch, not an ideal base runner to put on first. He dusted it off and stole second base once again, his second stolen base of the day. Kitchens then hit Holiday in scoring another run for USI, growing the lead to five. Unfortunately, he got caught in a rundown for the first out.
McLellan looked to continue the hitting display, with a down the left field line. He then advanced to third base after Coakley, the next batter, singled to right field. Then McLellan contributed a run, reaching home plate after a wild pitch, which also advanced Coakley to second base. USI now led by a score of 6-0. Slack, now the fifth batter of the inning, drew a walk, which prompted yet another pitching change for NKU. This change was just enough to get the Norse out of the inning as Miller, the next batter, hit into a double play ball for the second and third out. USI continued scoring for the fourth inning in a row, not looking to get complacent anytime soon.
The top of the sixth was not as ideal for Rubio on the mound as the previous inning was. He gave up a single to right field to the opening inning batter. However, he was able to get the first out via a fielder’s choice. The runner on first was able to gain second base after Rubio balked on a pitch. (a balk occurs when a pitcher makes an illegal motion, most likely a hesitant pick off move)
Unphased, Rubio was able to shrug off the error and struck out the next batter and got the final batter to fly out, ending the inning for the third out.
Looking to continue a hot scoring streak in the bottom of the sixth inning, Parker Martin hit a double to right field to right field, putting him into scoring position. The following batter, Wall attempted to swing for the fences, but popped up to the catcher. Boyd, the third batter of the inning reached first base on a fielder’s choice to shortstop, who tagged Martin out for the second out. Boyd attempted to make the best of the situation and stole second base bringing a runner into scoring position once again. This time, Khi Holiday stepped up to the plate and hit an awkward ball to the pitcher and beat out the throw to first base. This hit also allowed Boyd to advance to third.
Next to the plate, was Kitchens, who looked to get a third hit of the day and drive a run in. He did in a way accomplish the second objective. The NKU pitcher threw a wild pitch which allowed Boyd to score. Then the Norse pitcher did what many in attendance thought he would never do: Throw to third base to try to get Holiday out, who was attempting to steal. He overthrew the third baseman, which allowed Holiday to score with ease. USI had now scored its eighth run of the game, making it five straight innings with run production.
The sixth inning mercifully came to an end when Kitchens grounded to the pitcher who made the throw to first base for the final out. At this point, a ten run mercy rule ending was not out of the question.
In the top of the seventh inning, USI made another pitching change, bringing in Hiroyuki Yamada, senior pitcher, who entered the game with an ERA of 10.57 in 23 innings of work. Yamada handled the Norse batters with ease, forcing a fly out for the first batter. He then struck out the second batter and forced a fly out to the right field to close a perfect inning.
The bottom of the seventh, was an almost clean inning for Northern Kentucky, who had just made another pitching change. McLellan grounded to first base. The next batter was a pinch hitter for Kannon Coakley, Jacob Winzenread, junior infielder, who was hit by a pitch. Slack, the third batter of the inning grounded to second base, but Wiznenread still advanced, despite the second out. Miller, the final batter, grounded out to first base ending the inning. This marked the first inning since the first inning that USI had failed to score a run.
In the top of the eighth inning, USI opted to make more substitutions, bringing in Charlie Marisca, junior catcher in for Wall. They also brought in Camden Dimidjian, graduate pitcher, for Yamada. Dimidjian entered the game with a 9.82 ERA in 3.2 IP. He pitched a perfect, 1-2-3 inning, first drawing the first two batters to fly out. Dimidjian ended the inning by striking out the final batter.
In the bottom of the eighth, Martin opened the inning with a line out to left field, perhaps, USI would not reach the mercy rule ending that many coveted. For the next batter, Marisca was hit by a pitch and took first base. USI made another substitution for the following batter, bringing in Ethan Rothschild, sophomore outfielder and Evansville native in to hit for Cameron Boyd. Rothchild singled to right field advancing Marisca to second base.
The forth batting slot once again featured a pinch hitter, this time Evan Zapp, sophomore outfielder. Zapp hit a to center field, scoring Marisca, bringing in yet another run, 9-0.
Kevin Cruz, freshman catcher, was called up to bat next, for Kitchens, who struck out, bringing a second out of the bottom of the eighth inning.
The final batter, Patrick McLellan singled to right field, bringing in Rothschild from second base to score the tenth and final run of the inning. The game ended in a mercy rule with two batters left on base.
USI- 10 NKU-0
Takeaways:
The Eagles continued their recent batting hot streak during this game, something that has been an apparent strength through much of the season so far. Khi Holiday was the most impactful player in this game, hitting the ball twice and walking once. He also scored a game high three runs in this performance, in addition to stealing two bases. Overall, it was an excellent well-rounded performance for the team as six different players batted in runs.
As for pitching Sage Stout had a solid performance, earning his third win of the season in 4 innings of work. Rubio pitched two innings, striking out two batters and only giving up one hit. Yamada and Dimidjian gave up no hits in their innings of work and each had a strike out a piece. An excellent pitching display for the team.
The Eagles hope to continue their excellent form on Saturday, where they face off against Morehead State in a conference matchup on Saturday, April 5 at 1 P.M.
