Jim Mashek

WKU COACH MARC RARDIN: “WE’RE GETTING NOTICED, WE’RE ‘TRENDING UPWARD'”

Western Kentucky University’s nationally ranked baseball team returned to Nick Denes Field on a chilly, windy Tuesday evening to tangle with Southern Indiana.

The Screaming Eagles surrendered 11 runs in an unusual fourth inning, prompting third-year WKU coach Marc Rardin to freely substitute, giving his role players a chance to shine.

It didn’t turn out that way.

Southern Indiana brought the go-ahead run to the plate in the top of the eighth inning, and Rardin had to turn to two mainstays of the WKU bullpen, sophomore right-hander Evan Jones and senior left-hander Cal Higgins, to put out some late fires. Jones and Higgins made quick work of the SIU batters they faced, however, and the Hilltoppers held on to stop the Screaming Eagles, 13-9, before a paid crowd of 352 at Nick Denes Field.

Western Kentucky remained unbeaten in 22 home games, while improving to 28-5 overall, the best start in school history. But with a road trip to Conference USA rival Liberty University beckoning in the distance, Rardin was less than pleased with his team’s performance in the middle and late innings. Southern Indiana dropped to 16-16 overall with the defeat.

“We’re trying to win games, a game, and trying to give an opportunity to some other guys (off the bench),” Rardin said after the game. “It’s a mid-week game, you have to be engaged. We gave away some of those runs. I have a problem with that.

“We’re routine oriented.”

WKU outfielder Carlos Vasquez opened the game with a bang, sending Brady Watts’ first pitch over the fence in left-center field for a leadoff home run in the bottom of the first inning. The Screaming Eagles seemed to settle in from there, but not for long.

Southern Indiana reliever Camden Dimidjian struggled with his control in the bottom of the fourth inning, and the Hilltoppers began putting the ball in play and quickly reaping the benefits.

WKU’s Ethan Lizama, a senior outfielder from Guam and a live wire in the dugout, delivered a two-run single to right field, putting the Hilltoppers in front, 7-0. WKU’s Ryan Wideman followed with a bloop single to left field, scoring Vasquez and bringing Hilltoppers teammate Thomas Marsala to the plate.

Marsala, who had been by a pitch in the helmet in his previous at bat, lashed a two-run triple off the fence in left-center field, and he scored on Camden Ross’ sacrifice fly.

It was 12-0 before the Screaming Eagles finally stopped the onslaught, and it looked like this mid-week game might be a walk in the park for the Hilltoppers, ranked No. 25 this week in the Baseball America poll after taking two of three games on the road against Conference USA rival Dallas Baptist.

There were walks, and Southern Indiana’s Cole Kitchens parked one, a three-run home run to left-center field with one out in the top of the sixth inning. WKU pitching coach Dillon Napoleon quickly made it to the mound, bringing junior left-hander Luke Wright out of the bullpen. Wright was equal to the task, but the Hilltoppers’ bullpen ran into trouble again in the top of the seventh.

“There was an avalanche to that,” WKU coach Marc Rardin said.

Southern Indiana’s Patrick McLellan ripped a pitch from the Tops’ Lucas Litteral into right field, and the ball was misplayed by WKU’s Joe Siervo, resulting in a two-run double that trimmed Western’s lead to 12-7.

The lead was 12-9 when WKU’s Evan Jones retired the side in the top of the seventh, and the Screaming Eagles added two more runs in the eighth.

Gavin Perry, the Hilltoppers’ starting pitcher, worked four innings of shutout ball and was the winning pitcher. Perry had four of the Tops’ 12 strikeouts, and WKU coach Marc Rardin used seven pitchers to finish the task at hand.

WKU’s Carlos Vasquez, a junior outfielder from Brazil and Wallace-Dothan Community College in Southeast Alabama, had two outstanding plays in left field after going yard with his home run in the bottom of the first inning.

Vasquez and teammate Ethan Lizama seemed bemused when taking a handful of questions from the media afterward, and they’re looking forward to resuming Conference USA play against Liberty University on Friday in Lynchburg, Virginia.

(Liberty also will play host to the C-USA Tournament in May, which will be used to determine the league’s automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament.)

WKU hasn’t played in the NCAA Tournament since the 2009 season, when the Hilltoppers were the runner-up to Ole Miss in the four-team NCAA regional at the Rebels’ ballpark in Oxford, Mississippi.

WKU coach Marc Rardin was pleased with the Hilltoppers squeezing into the national rankings after the strong showing at Dallas Baptist, but he naturally remains focused on the big picture.

“We’re getting noticed, we’re ‘trending upwards,'” Rardin said. “(The WKU coaching staff is) in our third year, and it’s nice to get recognized.”