(EDITOR’s NOTE) Unfortunately, I’ve had some computer/web site issues, again, this time with applying photos — taken and edited — into my stories for jimmashek.com … In order to catch Game Three of the HIlltoppers’ 3-game series with Dallas Baptist, I’ll have to post this story, sans art, in hopes of getting things rectified later today. Many thanks. JWM
WKU’s MARC RARDIN: ‘YOU’VE GOT TO KEEP WORKING, EVERY GAME …’
Marc Rardin is in his fourth season as Western Kentucky University’s head baseball coach and he’s made significant strides since his arrival on the WKU campus during the summer of 2002.
First, he changed the Hilltoppers’ recruiting approach. He learned all about fluid rosters during his 21-year run at Iowa Western, winning three JUCO national championships until succeeding former WKU coach John Pawlowski after a disastrous 18-36 season.
The Tops won all of seven Conference USA games that season, losing 23 of them.
Second, he transformed the WKU roster. Top to bottom. Everything was earned. On the practice field, in the games, away from the stadium.
Third, he put together a top-flight coaching staff. Veteran coaches who had paid some dues themselves along the way.
And finally, he started changing the WKU baseball culture. One game at a time. One inning at a time. One pitch at a time.
You get the picture.
Which is why the fourth-year WKU coach was more than a little downbeat after Saturday’s home game against Dallas Baptist, a baseball-only member of Conference USA on its way to the Mountain West Conference. DBU coach Dan Heefner, on the other hand, has been the Patriots’ head coach for nearly two decades. Dallas Baptist has made five consecutive trips to the NCAA baseball tournament.
Winning is basically second nature in Texas locales such as the University of Texas, Texas A&M, Baylor and yes, Dallas Baptist.
The Hilltoppers claimed Game One of their Conference USA series DBU in dramatic fashion, using Daniel Stewart’s two-out, three-run home run to leave the Patriots standing, 7-4, on Friday night at WKU’s Nick Denes Field.
The Tops have played better baseball over the last five weeks or so, certainly A LOT BETTER than the disastrous three-game home series against Liberty University in the first week of April.
But they couldn’t maintain that momentum in Saturday’s Game Two against the Patriots, who overcame an early two-run deficit to subdue the Hilltoppers, 5-3, before a Senior Day crowd on a sun-splashed Saturday afternoon at The Nick.
Rardin kept it real when it was over.
“Our offense has to be better than that,” he said. “I really felt like we were almost giving (at bats) away … We started pressing. When you get stressed, and you press, at the plate, it’s going to hurt you.
“You’ve got to keep working, every game.”
Translated, one weekend after the Kentucky Derby is no time to stumble out of the gate.
Western Kentucky dropped to 27-24 overall, and 12-14 in Conference USA play, while the Patriots improved to 29-22 and 17-9, respectively.
The good news, at least in the WKU camp, is that Western Kentucky and Kennesaw State have claimed the final two spots in the C-USA Tournament to begin on May 20 on the KSU campus in Kennesaw, Georgia.
The Hilltoppers have a long way to go, if they’re to match the work of the 2025 WKU squad, which broke a 19-year drought in NCAA Tournament appearances before going two-and-out at Ole Miss, another longtime college baseball power.
WKU right-hander Gavin Perry, the Hilltoppers’ most effective starting pitcher all season, gave his team a workmanlike 5 2/3 innings on the mound. He allowed five runs, all earned, while yielding 10 hits, four for extra bases.
One of them, Chayton Krauss’ home run to lead off the bottom of the sixth, created all the momentum the Patriots would need on this day.
“Baseball is about the two-hit, the two-run RBIs,” Rardin said. “The two-out hits that score two runs. It’s about hitting balls, forward, it’s about hitting them harder. You have to do that, with your approach.
“I thought we put some balls in play today, way too early in the count. You can’t have rollovers and popups, and be competitive.
“That’s not who we are.”
WKU first baseman Lane Arroyos, the Hilltoppers’ batting leader, and senior catcher Camden Ross had two hits each. Ross opened the bottom of the sixth with a hustling double to left-center field, and he’d score on Daniel Stewart’s one-out double down the left-field line, pulling the Tops to within 5-3.
They’d get no closer.
DBU right-hander Ryan Borberg worked 5 1/3 innings and was the winning pitcher, improving to 1-1 on the season. Perry, meanwhile, dropped to 6-2 for the year. Rardin will turn to sophomore left-hander Dominic Monaco (1-2, 6.28 ERA) on Sunday afternoon, in the series finale, but expect a quick hook in both the WKU and Dallas Baptist dugouts.
The Hilltoppers will close the final week of the regular season on Thursday, with a three-game set against the C-USA’s last-place team, the University of Delaware, in Newark, Delaware.
The Blue Hens are 17-33 overall and 5-21 in conference play.
A little momentum before leaving Bowling Green certainly wouldn’t hurt the Hilltoppers’ chances in the final few weeks of the season.