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MOREHEAD, Ky. – Senior leftfielder Nick Newell set the school single-season record for doubles, and senior designated hitter Clayton Meyer clubbed his first career grand slam as the Morehead State baseball team put 20 hits on the scoreboard en route to a 20-4 win over Northern Kentucky at Allen Field Wednesday.
Newell, who now has 23 two-baggers this year, eclipsed Brad Allison's former mark of 22 set in 1996. Morehead State, which leads the nation in doubles, also tied the program's single-game record, originally established in 1973 and equaled in 2009, with seven. The Eagles evened the season series with NKU and improved to 28-17 overall.
Morehead State is now only one win shy of tying the 2014 win total and just three wins short of tying the program single-season record for victories, set in 1993. The Norse slipped to 16-25.
"We obviously hit well today, but we got great pitching too," Head Coach Mike McGuire said. "I am very happy for Nick for setting a record, but I told him we have a lot of games left, so he's not done. Let's add to that number. We also have a couple of guys right behind him in doubles, so they could challenge for that record too. But, the mark of this club continues to be unselfish players and production throughout the lineup. The lower half of our order had more than half the hits today."
Meyer, who increased his batting average to .300, smashed his first career home run to clear the bases during an eight-run, fourth-inning scoring barrage. He finished 4-for-6 with four runs scored.
"Clayton has taken advantage of his opportunities in the last two games and provided some big hits," McGuire said. "We have been looking for someone to step up in the DH role."
The Eagles produced a double-digit hit amount for the 27
th time in 2015 and got to the 20-hit milestone for the fourth game.
Four others – senior shortstop Robby Spencer, senior catcher Chris Robinson, Newell and sophomore centerfielder Ryan Kent – had three-hit outings. Kent, senior rightfielder Brandon Rawe and freshman infielder Braxton Morris all crossed the plate three times. Rawe got ahold of his team-best eighth home run, a two-run job, in the fifth, and Morris cranked his first career round-tripper to score a pair in the seventh.
Robinson and Spencer nailed two doubles. Robinson, along with Rawe, has 19 doubles this year. Kent (24 games) and senior first baseman Kane Sweeney (22) extended their lengthy reached-base streaks.
Junior right-hander Matt Anderson was credited with the victory to improve to 3-1. He tossed the fifth and sixth frames following starter Patrick McGuff's exit after four innings. Anderson recorded a trio of strikeouts. McGuff was in line for a win (left with his team ahead 12-3), but did not toss the required five frames. Freshman lefty Aaron Leasher and junior right Tyler Keele held NKU to two hits in the final three, and the MSU quartet combined for 11 punchouts.
Northern Kentucky had eight hits with no player recording double-digit totals. Starter Trey Ganns took the loss to fall to 1-2. One of six Norse hurlers, he allowed four runs in 2.2 innings.
Morehead State opens a three-game Ohio Valley Conference series with visiting Eastern Illinois at Allen Field Friday. First pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m. ET. All three games versus EIU, weather-permitting, are set to be webcast on the Ohio Valley Conference Digital Network. Saturday's game is set for 2 p.m., while Sunday's finale will be at 1 p.m.
"Eastern Illinois is a much-improved team who we cannot take lightly," McGuire said. "They had a really rough start playing quite a few ranked teams, but they have several hitters who are starting to get hot. It will be a good series, so we have to be ready each day to play well in all three phases."
