ON JOE SIERVO’s RBI SINGLE
TO CENTER FIELD IN THE 11th.
WESTERN KENTUCKY CLAIMS FIRST CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT TITLE SINCE 2008; SENIOR LEFTY CAL HIGGINS SHINES DOWN THE STRETCH
LYNCHBURG, Virginia — They kept knocking on the door, only to be turned away.
Western Kentucky University’s baseball squad was relentless, however, in claiming the school’s first berth in the NCAA Tournament since 2009. Jacksonville State, the first-year Conference USA member, came out of the losers’ bracket with two victories in elimination games against nationally ranked Dallas Baptist University on Saturday.
The Gamecocks held the lead for the vast majority of Sunday afternoon’s C-USA Tournament championship game, but the Hilltoppers were the home team. They were the home team for all four of their conference tournament games, which ultimately paid huge dividends at Liberty University’s Worthington Field.
It took 11 innings to get the job done, but the Hilltoppers are on their way to the NCAA Tournament.
Western Kentucky 6, Jacksonville State 5.
“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 …”
BELTS A ONE-OUT DOUBLE
TO RIGHT FIELD IN THE 11th.
FINISHED WITH JUST SIX HITS,
BUT FOUR WENT FOR EXTRA BASES.
WORKED FOUR INNINGS AND
WAS THE WINNING PITCHER.
EMPTIES HIS TEAM’s BENCH AFTER
HIS GAME-WINNING RBI SINGLE …
INTO CENTER FIELD TO CELEBRATE.
The Hilltoppers improved to 46-12 overall, while leaving ’em standing with three walk-off victories in the C-USA Tournament. On Wednesday, WKU third baseman Carlos Vasquez unloaded a ninth-inning home run to stun New Mexico State, 7-6. Tournament MVP Ethan Lizama did it all on Thursday, collectiing five RBI after lashing a game-winning RBI double in the 10th inning of a 7-6 victory over Florida International.
On Saturday, the Tops drubbed Kennesaw State, another C-USA newcomer, to the tune of 10-2 in the semifinals. They were clearly a team on a mission, and their perserverance was rewarded when junior WKU outfielder Joe Siervo belted an RBI singll e to center field, a sinking line drive that caught a diving Jax State’s Ace Williamson in the feet.
The ball bounced to the fence and WKU second baseman Austin Haller scored from third base, while emptying the Hilltoppers’ dugout. The Tops chased Siervo into center field before receiving the championship trophy, but now they’ll have bigger fish to fry in the 64-team NCAA Tournament.
“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.”
Senior left-hander Cal Higgins, the Hilltoppers’ ace out of the bullpen, worked the final four innings, striking out four while allowing one earned run for his third victory in five decisions. Higgins pitched for WKU coach Marc Rardin at his previous stop, longtime NJCAA powerhouse Iowa Western University in Council Bluffs, Iowa, before enrolling at Western for the 2022-23 school year.
TO HIS EIGHTH-INNING FLY BALL
THAT WAS CAUGHT ON THE TRACK.
THE FIELD AS DALTON FIVEASH (No. 1)
PREPARES TO PINCH HIT IN THE 11th.
AS WKU’s CARLOS VASQUEZ CELEBRATES THE VICTORY.
THE CHAMPIONSHIP TROPHY.
A 115-60 RECORD IN THREE SEASONS.
The Hilltoppers have taken significant steps toward prominence in each of Rardin’s three seasons in Bowling Green, and now they’ll be taking their act on the road, in the NCAA Tournament. WKU will learn of its regional site and opening-round opponent on Monday afternoon at an NCAA Selection Show press conference in the Center Court Club at historic E.A. Diddle Arena.
“This is amazing. This is what we were brought here to do,” Higgins said.
Western Kentucky has won 12 of its last 14 games, but they had to grind out three of them in a tournament format here at Liberty University. The Tops have a deep, talented pitching staff, tutored by veteran WKU pitching coach Dillon Napoleon, and that’s reason for optimism heading into NCAA Tournament play.
“They work so hard. You know what you put them through,” Rardin said. “You know what you expect of them … Let’s not stop at 46 (wins). Let’s compete (in the NCAA regional) and make it interesting.”
Senior right-hander Gavin Perry got the start for the Tops in Sunday’s championship game. He took WKU into the fourth inning before yielding to 5-foot-10 senior right-hander Lucas Hartman, who worked 3 2/3 innings of scoreless relief while throwing 61 pitches.
Then, it was Cal Higgins Time.
The 6-foot-5 left-hander stands on the third-base side of the rubber and uses a sweeping motion as he brings the ball to the plate. Higgins said it’s something he’s worked on, over his college career, and it’s helped put the Hilltoppers on the path to the NCAA Tournament.
Higgins has allowed just 27 hits in 40 2/3 innings pitched. He’s struck out 47 batters while allowing 11 walks. And Rardin said he was ready to return to the mound for a 12th inning, after putting up three zeroes in his four innings of work.
WE WERE BROUGHT HERE TO DO …’
COST THE HILLTOPPERS IN
THE BOTTOM OF THE NINTH.
WITH 216 EXTRA-BASE HITS IN 58 GAMES.
TAKES A CALLED THIRD STRIKE
IN THE SIXTH INNING.
THE TOURNAMENT MVP,
HAS UNLOADED 15 HOME RUNS.
C-USA TOURNEY GAMES
IN WALK-OFF FASHION.
It wasn’t needed, of course. Joe Siervo’s line-drive single with two outs in the bottom of the 11th put the Hilltoppers back in the NCAA Tournament.
“Joe’s an athlete. He has ‘bat to balls’ skills,” Rardin said. “My back pocket has been ‘blowing up.’ It’s gonna take a while to return all these texts and phone calls.”
Siervo’s two-run home run that fell inside the left-field foul pole put the Hilltoppers in front, 5-4, with two outs in the seventh inning. Jax State scratched out a single run, in the top of the eighth, on Matthew Cash’s sacrifice fly, to tie the score at 5.
The Tops’ infield defense was superb down the stretch, including a deft 6-3 double play from freshman shortstop Reid Howard to end the top of the ninth.
WKU’s Ethan Lizama, the senior outfielder from Guam, was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player. Lizama crushed a pitch from JSU’s Steven Cash for a leadoff home run to right field in the fourth, and WKU teammate Ryan Wideman unloaded a solo home run to center field in the sixth, pulling the Hilltoppers to within 4-3.
“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.”
Lizama was joined on the all-tournament team by three WKU teammates — Wideman, senior third baseman Carlos Vasquez and senior second baseman Austin Haller. Haller delivered a one-out double off the wall in right-center field with one out in the 11th, and he moved into third base when Howard was retired on a high hopper to the left side of the infield.
It was the longest Conference USA Tournament championship game since 2013, when Rice defeated Southern Miss, 5-4, in 11 innings at Reckling Park in Houston. Western Kentucky left the Sun Belt Conference for Conference USA for the 2014-15 academic year.
“Obviously, our team chemistry was off the charts,” Vasquez said before leaving the field for the team buses. “The thing that impressed me was the execution.”
WKU will be making its fifth appearance in the NCAA Tournament. The Hilltoppers went 2-2 in their last NCAA tourney experience, forcing a winner-take-all game at Ole Miss before dropping a 4-1 decision to the Rebels and future MLB pitcher Drew Pomeranz in 2009.
THE C-USA TOURNAMENT MVP
IS FLANKED BY TEAMMATES
CARLOS VASQUEZ (LEFT) AND AUSTIN HALLER.
TO BOOGIE BACK TO BOWLING GREEN …