Jim Mashek

HILLTOPPERS IMPROVE TO 27-1 AT NICK DENES FIELD: ALL EYES ON THE WEATHER FOR GAME TWO ON SATURDAY EVENING

There were twists, and there were turns, and there were numerous weather complications for Game One of the critical Conference USA baseball series between homestanding Western Kentucky and recent nemesis Louisiana Tech.

Ultimately, the magic of WKU’s Nick Denes Field, and the hot bat of the Hilltoppers’ Carlos Vasquez, delivered victory for the home team on Friday night at The Nick.

Vasquez, a junior third baseman from Sao Paolo, Brazil, crushed Louisiana Tech left-hander Ryan Harland’s 1-1 pitch for a game-winning RBI single to deep right-center field, lifting the Tops to a dramatic 9-8 triumph over the Bulldogs before a small but enthusiastic crowd, refusing to be dampened by the elements that forced multiple logistical changes in the opening game of a three-game set.

Western Kentucky was looking to reverse its C-USA fortunes after getting swept, on the road, by Florida International University last week in Miami. The Tops took a big step in that regard by beating the University of Kentucky, 6-4, on Tuesday night, in another rain-delayed marathon at The Nick.

Time Waits For Now One, as Mick Jagger told us, back in the day, and Vasquez understands timing as well as anyone.

“I wanted to find my focus on the on-deck circle,” Vasquez said when it was over. “A lot of ‘self talk.’ A lot of posture. I wanted (Harland’s pitch) to get deep on me, and I could get a good swing on it, put the barrel on the ball …”

Western Kentucky improved to 36-10 overall,. and 12-7 in Conference USA, while the Bulldogs dropped to 27-18 and 11-7, respectively. The Hilltoppers improved to 27-1 overall, at Nick Denes Field, and the victory tied the school record for home wins in a single season, matching the feat of the WKU teams set in 1988, 2002 and 2009 seasons.

(That 2009 Hilltoppers squad was the last WKU team to qualify for the NCAA Tournament, and Western was the runner-up to homestanding Ole Miss in a four-team regional, after emerging from the losers’ bracket and forcing a winner-take-all game for the championship.)

A baseball lifer such as third-year WKU coach Marc Rardin can appreciate all of that, because the Hilltoppers have learned to stay in the moment, while pursuing greatness at the same time.

This is a confident Western Kentucky team, but the Hilltoppers aren’t about to get ahead of themselves. WKU took an 8-4 lead into the top of the eighth inning, but Hilltoppers right-hander Lucas Hartman struggle with his control, and the Bulldogs put up a 4-spot to change the flow of a game that seemed to be trending in the home team’s direction from the outset.

As Rardin likes to point out, the home team always gets the last word — on, in this case, the last at bat — in games decided by a run or two.

Game Two of the series was scheduled for 3 p.m, but rain pushed the start time back to 7 p.m, Rardin and LA Tech coach Lane Burroughs have spent plenty of time monitoring the weather reports for the last few days.

The Hilltoppers grabbed a 3-0 lead on Ryan Wideman’s towering, three-run to the right-field corner in the first inning, and they answered LA Tech’s three-run second inning with another 3-spot in the bottom half. In that inning, WKU’s Carlos Vasquez delivered an RBI single up the middle, before first baseman Kyle Hayes smoked a two-run double down the left-field line.

The Tops protected that lead until the top of the eighth.

“I mean, we came out, and it was awesome,” Rardin said. “Then, LA Tech being LA TEch, and who they are, overall, but who they’ve been this year … You look at their stats, and they’re very average stats. Just everything about them, very average.

“But then they’re 27-18 (overall) and 12-7 (in C-USA) … They kind of have that intenstinal fortitude, that toughness about them. They’re going to grind it out, and they almost have like a literal fight in them. Like they’ll want to fight you …

“We take that gut punch, in the eighth, and it’s just the weekend … We’re at home, and in baseball, someone’s got to be at home. It’s those last three outs, and the toughest thing to get is those last three outs.”

WKU left-hander Cal Higgins, one of the nation’s premier closers, earned his first victory of the season, striking out three Louisiana Tech batters while allowing just one hit in 1 2/3 innings pitched.

Higgins, the 6-foot-4, 250-pound senior from Kearney, Nebraska, has put up some monster numbers in his third and final season with the Hilltoppers. In 16 appearances, he’s compiled a 1-2 record with an 1.88 ERA. He’s struck out 37 batters, in 28 2/3 innings pitched, while surrendering just 17 hits and five walks.

He brings confidence to the mound, and it certainly seems to rub off on his WKU teammates.

“A lot of credit to (WKU starting pitcher) Jack Bennett … and to Cal. We just battled out there,” Carlos Vasquez said after his Hilltopper teammates chased him into the outfield for the game-winning hit.

The Hilltoppers’ moment extended to a crawfish feast on the patio area beyond the fence paralell to the right-field foul line, and it set the stage for what could be a pivotal point in the ’25 season.

(Last year, WKU was teetering when it traveled to Ruston, Louisiana, for a three-game set with the Bulldogs, just a few days AFTER the Kentucky Derby. WKU coach Marc Rardin remembers getting boatraced in that series, LA Tech’s sweep that marked a 1-6 finish in regular-season play.)

“They’re fighters,” Rardin said. “They just keep coming at you …”

Louisiana Tech coach Lane Burroughs looked at Game One as the table setter, too, as he went with closer Blake Hooks for the third inning, after the Hilltoppers rocked Bulldogs starter Luke Cooley for six runs on six hits in the first two frames. Hooks, a senior right-hander, kept LA Tech within striking distance until giving up two runs in the bottom of the sixth.

WKU shortstop Reid Howard led off that inning with a double that bounced off the padded wall in left-center field. Joe Siervo, the Hilltoppers’ leadoff man, had a good at bat before drawing a walk from Hooks, and Carlos Vasquez delivered a hit-and-run single to left field, loading the bases with one out.

That’s when Ryan Wideman, a junior MLB prospect from Marietta, Georgia, was hit by a pitch to bring home Howard from third. The 6-foot-5, 205-pound center fielder covers a lot of ground, defensively, too, and Wideman leads the Tops with 35 stolen bases. He’s collected 30 extra-base hits in 46 games this season, including seven home runs.

WKU’s Kyle Hayes chased home another run by just putting the ball in play, sending a nubber past the pitcher’s mound to score SIervo from third.

WKU collected 13 hits in the game, compared to LA Tech’s six, while playing errorless defense like the Tops did in the impressive win over Kentucky.

Louisiana Tech’s Trey Hawsey hit his ninth home run of the season, a shot that fell inside the right-field foul pole, with two outs in the top of the third, but Jack Bennett, WKU’s starting pitcher, allowed just one hit in the next two innings before yielding to Hilltoppers reliever Lucas Hartman.

WKU coach Marc Rardin is expected to start sophomore right-hander Drew Whalen (8-2, 2.65 ERA) in Game Two on Saturday, while Louisiana Tech’s Lane Burroughs plans to counter with freshman right-hander Brooks Roberson (5-1, 3.91 ERA). Rain on Saturday pushed the start time for the series’ second game back to 7 p.m.

Sunday’s Game Three is scheduled for a 1 p.m. start.