BOXSCORE GAME 1
BOXSCORE GAME 2
PAINESVILLE, Ohio – The Lake Erie baseball
team scored six times in the first inning and led 10-1 in game one
of a doubleheader at Northern Kentucky on Thursday (March 18)
afternoon, but the Storm surrendered 10 unanswered runs in the
final three innings in its 11-10 loss to the Norse. Lake Erie
dropped game two to No. 27 NKU, 11-4.
The Storm dropped its record to 4-6 while the
Norse improved to 13-5 with the wins.
Lake Erie used a huge first inning to jump to a
6-0 lead. Nick Lovick's (Mentor,
Ohio/Mentor) RBI knock scored Zachary Mosbarger
(Bellefontaine, Ohio/Bellefontaine), who walked to start
the inning. Brandon James (Mentor, Ohio/Mentor)
followed with an RBI single and, with the bases loaded, Jae
Leeworthy (Newton Falls, Ohio/Newton Falls) ripped a
two-run double down the left-field line. Mike
Morgan's (Indian Lake, Ohio/Russells Point) RBI
groundout and a Matt Vanni (Willowick,
Ohio/Benedictine) run-scoring single to center made it
6-0. Lake Erie sent 11 batters to the plate in the
inning.
The Norse scored once in the bottom of the
first, but the Storm earned the run back in the second with help
from NKU's defense. Lovick doubled with one down and moved to
third on a James single. Lovick scored on a throwing error by Norse
third baseman Jake Morris.
Lake Erie took a 9-1 lead in the fourth inning
on Lovick's two-run blast to left that also scored Rua, who
singled.
The Storm made it 10-1 in the fifth after Vanni
was hit by a pitch and scored on Matt Toth's (Lorain,
Ohio/Admiral King) triple.
Things started to unravel from there, however,
as the Norse started to get its offense going. They scored five
times in the fifth inning, highlighted with a two-run double by
Brian Erie. Northern Kentucky made it 10-8 on a double by Patrick
Muth and Evan McDole slugged a two-run shot to cap the comeback and
tie the game at 10-10.
Muth's one-out bases-loaded single in the
bottom of the seventh sent the Norse to a walk-off win in game
one.
Morgan, who came on in the sixth inning, took
the loss for Lake Erie and Kevin Jordan picked up his third win of
the season for Northern Kentucky.
Lovick led the offense with three hits, three
RBI and three runs. Rua, Toth and James had two hits apiece for the
Storm.
The Norse took a 4-0 lead in the second off Lake
Erie starter Doug Fox (Parma, Ohio/Valley Forge)
in game two and the Storm was not able to climb back.
The Storm scored a single run in the fourth
inning as Justin Rebhun (Rensselaer,
N.Y./Columbia) walked and scored on a James double to
right-center.
Northern Kentucky scored seven more times in its
next three trips to the plate to put the game out of reach, though
the Storm did add a single run in the fifth and a pair of runs in
the seventh, the latter coming on a two-run single by
Toth.
Fox took the loss for Lake Erie, while Jim Ryan
earned the win for the Norse. Josh Blaum picked up his first save,
tossing the final three innings.
Offensively, Mosbarger was the only Storm player
with two hits and Cody Blood (Cleveland, Ohio/John
Marshall) scored two runs.
The Storm will play a double-header at 1 p.m.
against Malone in Urbana on Saturday (March 20) and will play the
host Blue Knights on Sunday (March 21) at 12 p.m.
