Jim Mashek

HILLTOPPERS CONTINUE TO STRUGGLE DEFENSIVELY; RARDIN WILL GO WITH WHALEN IN SERIES FINALE

Nothing went right for No. 20 Western Kentucky University baseball in a Good Friday matinee at WKU’s Nick Denes Field.

The Hilltoppers had three errors in a dismal 10-3 loss to traditional rival Middle Tennessee State.

The Blue Raiders collected 12 hits, half of them for extra bases, against four WKU pitchers.

WKU right-hander Dawson Hall, the junior from Bowling Green High School and the Hilltoppers’ starting pitcher, lost for the first time this season in six decisions.

And Western Kentucky’s amazing record at The Nick, a 23-0 start on the Tops’ home turf, finally went by the wayside.

Truth be told, it’s been a challenging week for Western, which dropped a 5-2 decision to the University of Louisville on Tuesday night at The ‘Ville. The bats came alive in the eighth inning of Thursday’s 9-5 victory over MTSU, but even that was a momentary pause before everything fell apart on a warm, windy afternoon at the ballpark on Friday.

Third-year WKU head coach Marc Rardin chose to look ahead, to Saturday’s Game Three, rather than dwell on the shortcomings on display in the lopsided loss to the Blue Raiders. Western Kentucky remains 32-7 overall, and 10-4 in Conference USA play, and the Hilltoppers remain tied with tradition-rich Dallas Baptist University for first place in the league standings.

“We still have the opportunity to come back Saturday, and win the series,” Rardin said.

In other words, it was just a bad day at the yard for the Tops.

“It just wasn’t our day,” Rardin said.

Middle Tennessee State, the last-place team in Conference USA, called the rout of the Hilltoppers a “statement win” on the university’s web site, and the Blue Raiders certainly have enough offense to make a move in the league standings before the conference tournament begins on May 21 on the Liberty University campus in Lynchburg, Virginia.

Rardin will go with sophomore right-hander Drew Whalen (7-1, 1.94 ERA) in Saturday’s series finale, while Blue Raiders coach Jerry Meyers will counter with sophomore left-hander Chandler Alderman (3-5, 4.91 ERA).

MTSU (18-21 overall, 4-10 in Conference USA) again capitalized on Western’s defensive woes, which played a part in Dawson Hall’s exit from the mound with two outs in the top of the fourth inning.

MTSU’s Brett Vondohlen, the Blue Raiders’ free-swinging DH, delivered a two-run double to the opposite field, a line drive that hit the right-field wall on a short hop while scoring two teammates. That extra-base hit extended MTSU’s lead to 6-1, while bringing sophomore left-hander Zach Lyles out of the WKU bullpen.

The top of the MTSU batting order, senior outfielder Eston Snider and senior third baseman Clay Badylak, set the table for Vondohlen with two-out RBI singles. Snider slapped a run-scoring hit up the middle, pushing the Hilltoppers’ deficit to 3-1, before Badylak lined Hall’s first pitch to shallow center field to bring MTSU’s Cooper Clapp across the plate.

As fast as Hall works on the mound, and he DOES, there was little time to get things going in the WKU bullpen.

“It was all literally done in 15 pitches,” WKU coach Marc Rardin said. “I couldn’t get a guy up (in the bullpen) fast enough … (Hall) was cruising, and then all of a sudden …

“Those four runs, that was the big inning.”

MTSU didn’t relax, however, adding two runs on Blue Raiders first baseman Hayden Miller’s home run to left-center field in the sixth. WKU had plenty of hard-hit line drives and fly balls in the early innings, but they usually died in the teeth of a 15-mph wind blowing in from right field.

Sometimes, foul pole to foul pole, but more often, toward home plate.

“They had flatter swings than we did,” Rardin said. “We had some line drives that didn’t go anywhere …”

Drew Horn, the ace of the MTSU pitching staff, worked five innings, striking out five while allowing just one hit in earning his third victory in four decisions. Hall fell to 5-1 with the loss.

WKU’s Thomas Marsala scored on a second-inning MTSU error, an unearned run, and the Hilltoppers didn’t score again until the bottom of the eighth. Kyle Hayes, one of the key contributors in Thursday’s 9-5 victory over the Blue Raiders, lined a leadoff home run to left-center field to make it 10-2. In the ninth, WKU’s Carlos Vasquez extended his hitting streak to 12 games with an RBI double to left-center field.

WKU reliever Lucas Litteral, a junior left-hander from Paintsville, Kentucky, was effective out of the bullpen, striking out five batters while not allowing a hit in 2 2/3 innings.

“(WKU starting pitcher) Dawson (Hall) left some balls up and they were on top of them,” Rardin said. “Middle Tennessee had an (offensive) approach and they did really well at it … We were probably a little ‘too emotional,’ in some of our at bats.

“We need to roll outta bed (Saturday) and do what we can to steady the ship.”