WKU Wins Weekend Series against FAU

WKU entered this weekend’s series looking to gain ground on 2^nd place FAU. After surrendering 4 runs in the first 4 innings, the Tops pitching staff settled down and limited the Owls offense. However, it was FAU’s pitchers led by starter Ryan Garton that dominated allowing only 2 runs (1 earned). The Hilltoppers went 1-11 with runners in scoring postion and lost the first game 4-2. With WKU’s chances of sweeping the series and overtaking FAU in the standings, the Hilltoppers turned their focus to simply winning the series. In game 2, Justin Hageman (8-4, 3.14 ERA) pitched a gem of his own. Hageman became the winningest freshman in WKU history after his 2 run complete game performance earned him his 8^th victory of the season. He broke Matt Riding’s record of 7 victories in 2007. WKU trailed the game 2-1 heading into the bottom of the 7^th. Hartle’s one out RBI triple tied the game and Kes Carter’s two out single drove in Hartle to give the Hilltoppers their first lead of the night. WKU added 3 more in the frame and sent a total of 10 batters to the plate. WKU won game two, 6-2. In the rubber game of the series it was Hartle again who came up with a clutch hit. With the game tied 3-3, Hartle’s 2 run single put the Toppers on top after 6 innings. Brian Edelen pitched the last 5 innings and was able to hold the lead for the Tops. He improved to 5-1 on the season. WKU looks strong heading into the final stretch of the season. Although they currently sit in 5^th place in the Sun Belt, WKU has only lost 2 conference series this year (Lost series 2-1 at UALR and swept at Troy). Thus, once the conference tournament comes around, WKU will be in great shape to advance far. The tournament is double elimination, and this team has shown that they can win after losing. In their last two series versus ULM and FAU, WKU found themselves down in the series 1-0. However, the Tops showed great composure and were able to come back in both series. WKU is 2^nd in average (.308) and 4^th in earned run average (4.10). If both the offense and pitching staff comes alive, watch out for WKU to be contenders in the Sun Belt tournament.

Speaking of Conference tournaments, the Lady Toppers softball team clinched the 7^th spot in the Sun Belt tournament with their wins against MTSU this past weekend. They begin play against #2 seed FAU on Wednesday.