Jim Mashek

LEFT-HANDER CAL HIGGINS GUIDES TOPS IN LATE INNINGS; WKU WILL MAKE FIRST NCAA APPEARANCE SINCE THE 2009 SEASON

LYNCHBURG, Virginia — Western Kentucky University’s Joe Siervo understood the task at hand.

Hit the ball hard, keep it down, get WKU teammate Austin Haller home from third base with the winning run.

That’s what Siervo pulled off, lining the game-winning single into shallow center field and sending the Hilltoppers to a dramatic 6-5 victory over Jacksonville State in the Conference USA Tournament championship game on Sunday at Liberty University’s Worthington Field.

A sparse but enthusiastic crowd saluted the Tops as they accepted the C-USA championship trophy. Western Kentucky won for the 12th time in its last 14 games, and the Hilltoppers (46-12) will be making their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2009.

“You’re fired up for your guys, you’re happy for the kids,” third-year WKU head coach Marc Rardin said after hoisting the championship trophy. “We didn’t play our best game, but it’s a testament to the hard work these guys have put in since the fall. To be able to walk it off, again …”

It was the Hilltoppers’ third-walk off victory in the C-USA Tournament. Junior WKU third baseman Carlos Vasquez unloaded a solo home run in the bottom of the ninth inning on Wednesday, lifting the Tops to a 7-6 victory over New Mexico State. On Thursday, WKU’s Ethan Lizama collected five RBI and lashed an RBI double in the bottom of the 10th inning, beating Florida International 7-6.

On Saturday, WKU took care of business in impressive fashion, eliminating Kennesaw State, 10-2, in the semifinals.

Western Kentucky’s players chased Joe Siervo into center field after his game-winning hit took the guesswork out of the NCAA Tournament equation. Regular-season champion Dallas Baptist (40-16 overall) is considered a lock for the field, based on its RPI and non-conference scheduling, but the Hilltoppers had no such luxury.

“That was crazy,” Siervo said. “It was a 2-1 count and I was looking for the slider. It was up, a little, and I just stayed on it.”

WKU’s ace closer, senior left-hander Cal Higgins, worked four innings for the victory, striking out four batters while allowing just one earned run. Siervo’s two-run home run that fell inside the left-field foul pole gave the Hilltoppers their first lead of the game, at 5-4, but Jax State tied it up, in the bottom of the eighth, on a sacrifice fly to center field.

Jacksonville State finishes its season at 37-25.

“This is amazing. This is what we were brought here to do,” said Higgins, who pitched for WKU head coach Marc Rardin at his previous job, as the head coach of NJCAA power Iowa Western Community College.

WKU’s Ethan Lizama, a senior outfielder from Guam, was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player. Lizama went 2-for-4 with an RBI in Sunday’s victory over the Gamecocks. Lizama led off the fourth with a home run off Jax State’s starting pitcher, Steven Cash. WKU teammate Ryan Wideman, the team’s leading hitter and an MLB Draft prospect, crushed a 3-2 pitch from Cash for a solo home run to center field with one out in the sixth.

“We came together, as a team,” Lizama said. “We had a plan, we had goals, and we worked toward those goals every day … We’re really looking forward to playing in the NCAA Tournament.”

(EDITOR’s NOTE.) I’ll be headed back from Lynchburg shortly and will have complete coverage of the dramatic victory on Monday morning at jimmashek.com. Thanks to Marc Rardin and his staff for their help in covering WKU baseball. I’ll be back for the evening session in the KHSAA 4th Region Tournament on Monday at WKU’s Nick Denes Field. And thanks to you for reading jimmashek.com.