After a tough weekend going on the road and dropping three out of four to a UW-Parkside team that is near the bottom of the GLVC, the Flyers came back to Brennan Field strong, winning the series against the team, ranked 19th nationally in Northern Kentucky.
Junior Ryan Koerner has one homerun and nine RBIs this season for the Flyers.
The Flyers took three out of four from NKU this past weekend, and Coach Tim McDonough was impressed.
“We were disappointed from the Parkside series, but the way we came out and responded against Northern was outstanding.”
Game one came down to the very last pitch. The Flyers went into the seventh inning down 10-7, but stayed in it to the very end. Richie Forkin came through in the seventh with an RBI single to make it a 10-8 ball game. In the eighth, Brian Norwood hit an RBI double and advanced to third on a throwing error. Zach Stetson followed with a sacrifice fly, scoring Norwood to tie the game at 10. The game came to an end in the ninth as Mike Vucsko scored on a wild pitch after two intentional walks loaded the bases with one out to try and force a double play
Forkin led the way with a 4-for-4 day at the plate, with two RBIs and two runs scored. Michael Wido added three hits and Miguel Amesquita added two hits, including his fifth home run of the year. Ted Bartnik was also big, picking up his first win of the year, pitching three scoreless innings in relief of Steve Almanza, who gave up eight runs in only 4.2 innings.
Game two came down to the end once again. Joe Scumaci got the start but struggled. Despite striking out 10, he gave up six runs in six innings of work. After NKU scored in the top of the seventh to take the lead, the Flyers came back with a two-out RBI single from Stetson in the bottom half to tie the game at seven. The next run would come in the 10th inning, as Forkin delivered, once again, with a walk-off RBI single with the bases loaded to give the Flyers the 8-7 victory.
Vucsko led the way for the Flyers going 2-for-4 with two RBIs. Stetson, Wido and Ryan Koerner had two hits each as well. Bartnik was big again, pitching four scoreless innings of relief to pick up his second win of the year.
Game three had less drama, as the Flyers won this one 10-5. Pat Lahey gave his bullpen a rest, throwing a complete game going seven innings and giving up five runs for his third win of the year. A five-run third inning was the difference in the game for the Flyers. A two run single from Wido and a three-run homer from Norwood gave them an 8-2 lead. The Flyers never looked back.
Forkin was the man again, going 3-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored. Koerner and Tyler Newsome each added two hits as well.
After three straight wins, the Flyers dropped game four with a football-like score of 17-12. A bad second inning, which saw three errors, led to eight runs, putting Lewis in the hole early. But a three run seventh, capped off by a three-run homer from Stetson, put Lewis within reach as the score became 13-9. The Flyers scored three more in the eighth as an RBI double from Newsome and a two-run single from Vince Campagna made it a 13-12 game. But Lewis was unable to score again, and a four-run ninth for NKU put the game away.
It was a rough game for Matt Frahm as he only pitched 2.2 innings and gave up 10 runs (5 earned). The offense was led by Newsome, who went 4-for-5 with three RBIs and two runs scored.
Overall, the weekend was a success and McDonough was proud of his guys.
“We got clutch hits from guys and the pitchers really competed.”
That strong weekend for the Flyers saw one of their own get rewarded as Forkin was named GLVC Baseball Player of the Week.
“He was a huge reason we won three games this weekend,” said McDonough.
Forkin hit .619 over that stretch with seven RBIs and six runs scored, including two big hits that were responsible for the first two wins of the series against NKU.
“I couldn’t be happier for him,” McDonough said of Forkin. “Ever since Richie has been here he’s been very consistent, both offensively and defensively. The key to him is that he puts together good at-bats and puts the ball in play.”
Forkin leads the team with a .394 average and is third on the team in hits (37).
The Flyers are now 17-16 (8-8 GLVC). Lewis plays their next six games at Brenna Field, starting with a double-dip against GVSU on April 13. Indianapolis concludes the Flyers homestand on April 17-18. For a complete schedule check out lewisflyers.com.
James Poellnitz, Staff Reporter
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