The Hilltopper baseball team suffered a blow to their NCAA tournament hopes yesterday. WKU lost 5-9 at the hands of UALR at the Sun Belt Conference Tournament. Starting pitcher Rye Davis took the loss, allowing 3 runs on 5 hits in 4 innings. The Hiltoppers then threw 5 relievers at the Trojans with little success. Each reliever allowed at least one run with two relievers allowing one run a piece in 1/3 inning’s work. Despite the bullpen’s stuggles, WKU remained in the game late. Down 6-2 in the 8th, WKU scored 3 runs to make it 6-5, thanks in large part to Ryan Huck who led off the inning with a solo home run. Kes Carter and Scott Wilcox each tallied RBI singles in the inning. UALR then scored 3 runs in the bottom of the inning to extend their lead to 9-5, where it stayed to post as the final.
WKU has virtually eliminated themselves from the tournament. The best case scenario involves a WKU victory and a UALR loss. That would leave both teams atop Pool A with 2-1 records while FAU and Troy would sit at 1-2. The tiebreaker to decide which team advances out of the pool is head-to-head competition among the two tied teams. UALR’s win means they win the tiebreaker against WKU and advance no matter what. If Troy defeats WKU, UALR still advances because they defeated Troy earlier in the week. Point blank, #8 seed UALR has won Pool A and will face the winner of Pool B on Sunday for an NCAA tournament bid. A win against #1 seed Troy would look good on WKU’s resume for an At-Large bid, but bears no weight in the conference tournament outcome.
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