See how NKU baseball won its first trip to the NCAA Division I Tournament

Northern Kentucky University’s baseball team is headed to the Division I NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history.

NKU defeated Youngstown State 23-5 in the Horizon League tournament championship game Saturday afternoon at Wright State University.

NKU will learn what four-team regional pairing it will play in when the full bracket is revealed at noon Monday.

“It feels unreal,” said head coach Dizzy Peyton on the ESPN-Plus broadcast. “Our players poured so much into this, all the fans here. We had unbelievable support all year.

“They’ve worked so hard for this opportunity. Since August, we’ve talked about being in the moment. Just playing for each other, loving each other, and that’s exactly what we did. This team is so special.”

NKU is 35-22 after winning all three games in the conference tournament. YSU, which came out of the loser’s bracket, had to beat the Norse twice on Saturday to win the championship.

YSU, the sixth seed and 12-42 coming into the tourney, went on an upset-filled run this week, winning four of five games over three days before running into the Norse. The Penguins finished 16-44.

The Penguins pitching staff, which had an ERA of over 10, was depleted by its workload this week so its top pitchers were unavailable against the Norse, who took advantage as the game went on.

The Penguins got a gutsy performance from starting pitcher Lane Rhodes, who had only thrown 16 innings all year going in. He held the Norse to one run over three innings before the floodgates opened.

Keys to the Norse title

Starting pitching: The Norse got outstanding pitching from all three of their aces in the tournament. Ben Gerl pitched eight innings in the first round against Milwaukee, giving up seven hits and three runs in a 5-3 win. Tanner Gillis pitched 8 2/3 innings against regular-season champion Wright State in a 10-6 win. He entered the ninth inning with a 10-1 lead before tiring but struck out 11. Gillis improved to 8-2 on the season.

Because of Gerl and Gillis’ performances, the Norse were able to use another top pitcher in Clay Brock, a Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy graduate, against YSU. Brock improved to 8-3 on the season, throwing 7 2/3 innings against the Penguins. Meanwhile, the Penguins had to go to the back of their bullpen to try to stay with the Norse.

Infield defense: With the Norse leading 1-0 in the third, they turned a double play with second baseman John Odom, a Beechwood grad, flipping to shortstop Brennan Rowe, who then relayed to first. Odom was first-team all-Horizon League.

With the Norse trailing 2-1 in the fourth and the Penguins having a runner on second, Rowe made a diving play at shortstop and made a tough throw to first to end the inning and keep the deficit at one.

Treyvin Moss: The graduate transfer was the tournament MVP with seven hits, 12 RBIs and five runs scored.

“Our coaches do a phenomenal job preparing us for the moment,” Moss said on the ESPN-Plus broadcast. “No moment is too big. Just going out there, playing our game and having fun. We don’t care who we’re playing. We’ve been taught to play one pitch at a time, play our game.”

Who were NKU’s top players in the Horizon League final?

Clay Brock: The NKU senior and CHCA graduate pitched 7 2/3 innings, striking out eight and allowing five hits. He allowed two runs in the eighth after the game was long decided. He was first-team all-league last year and second-team this year.

Treyvin Moss: He had three hits and five RBIs. He delivered a key two-run single in the fourth inning to give the Norse the lead at 3-2. Later, he hit a three-run triple. He was first-team all-league this season.

Logen Devenport: The left fielder hit a three-run triple with two outs in the fourth to complete a seven-run inning and put the Norse ahead to stay at 8-2.

Brennan Rowe: Besides playing a solid defensive game at shortstop, he had two hits, two runs scored and two RBIs.

Tyler Shaneyfelt: He had two hits, three RBIs and four runs scored.

Liam McFadden-Ackman: The Mason graduate and Horizon League player of the year had two hits, two RBIs and three runs scored. He is hitting over .360 with 21 home runs and 76 RBIs.

Up next

The NCAA Tournament begins May 31. The Norse will travel to a host school for a four-team bracket. Generally, the NCAA tries to keep unseeded teams close to home, so hosts Vanderbilt and Tennessee are among the likely destinations.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: NKU baseball wins Horizon League title for first DI NCAA tourney berth