RARDIN’s SQUAD FALLS TO 2-10 IN LEAGUE PLAY
Western Kentucky University’s new-look baseball team is officially in scramble mode.
After a promising start, the Hilltoppers have hit the skids. Hard.
There’s still plenty of time for first-year WKU coach Marc Rardin and his squad to right the ship, but the HIlltoppers dipped below .500 for the first time this season on Saturday afternoon at Nick Denes Field. WKU’s traditional rival, Middle Tennessee State University, bolted to a four-run lead in the top of the third inning and held off the Hilltoppers down the stretch, claiming a 5-4 victory.
It was Western’s eighth consecutive defeat.
A 4-0 LEAD IN THE TOP OF THE THIRD.
WKU stumbles into Easter Sunday with a 16-17 overall record, but more important, a dismal 2-10 mark in Conference USA play. The Blue Raiders have defeated Rardin’s squad five times in six C-USA games over the last month, and MTSU improved to 17-13 overall and 7-2 in league play.
“The third inning … was just (MTSU) hitting,” Rardin said. “What we usually do is what we did in the fourth inning where we hit a guy, they bunt him over and we don’t (make the play). Trust me, we work on that stuff — getting the out, making the play.
“We just are not.”
USED FOUR PITCHERS IN THE VICTORY.
SCORES IN THE SEVENTH.
That single run in the top of the fourth extended the Blue Raiders’ lead to 5-1, and MTSU interim coach Jerry Meyers used four pitchers to complete the task at hand. MTSU reliever Ollie Akens earned the victory on the mound, while the Tops’ starter, senior left-hander Devyn Terbrak, took the loss.
“Our bullpen was able to keep them at bay,” Meyers said.
Scouts from seven or eight MLB organizations were on hand to evaluate MTSU’s starting pitcher, 6-foot-6 junior right-hander Eriq Swan.
Swan’s fastball consistently hit 96, 97 mph in his four-inning stint, with a handful of pitches approaching 100 mph. Swan allowed just one run, an RBI single up the middle by WKU second baseman Tristin Garcia with two outs in the bottom of the third.
TO EVALUATE MTSU’s ERIQ SWAN.
“Swan did a nice job, getting us 75, 80 pitches,” Meyers said. “We talked about not trying to push much farther than that (as coaches). He gave us a good, quality four innings.”
Terbrak, who dropped to 3-3 with the defeat, ran into immediate trouble in the top of the third.
MTSU’s Eston Snider lined a leadoff triple into the right-field corner, after WKU’s Brett Blomquist misplayed the sinking line drive. Luke Wilson, the final man in the MTSU batting order, then ripped an RBI double into right-center field for the first run of the game.
Meyers and the Blue Raiders like the short game, and MTSU shortstop Brett Coker put down a bunt between the mound and first base, allowing .Wilson to score from third. MTSU’s Jason Galloway delivered a two-run single through the left side of the infield, extending the Blue Raiders’ lead to 4-0.
That left the Hilltoppers in a catch-up mode for the rest of the game, and first-year WKU coach Marc Rardin admitted his team is pressing in search of its first victory since March 26.
“Yeah, they’re pressing. I’m pressing,” Rardin said. “You are trying to help them. You are grasping at straws, whether it is a hit-and-run or bunting them over … Just letting them hit or changing up the lineup. Don’t talk to them. Talk to them a ton.
“Love on them, freaking get after them. Whatever it is. You’re gonna try.”
MTSU went back to the bunt game in the fifth, with Snider scoring the Blue Raiders’ single run on Coker’s sacrifice down the third-base line. WKU reliever Mason Burns avoided further trouble, but the Blue Raiders were in control with a 5-2 lead.
“They actually made some good adjustments, offensively, against Terbrak,” Rardin said.
WITH FOUR HOME RUNS AND 10 STOLEN BASES.
OFFENSIVE STRATEGY WITH HIS TEAM IN THE NINTH.
WKU’s leadoff man, junior center fielder Ty Crittenberger, had an RBI double in the bottom of the seventh, trimming the Tops’ deficit to 5-3. WKU catcher Kirk Leibert singled through the left side of the infield with two outs, bringing Blomquist home from second base. But MTSU closer James Sells earned his sixth save of the season by retiring Western’s Drew Reckart on a line drive right to Raiders second baseman J.T. Mabry to end it.
Rardin built a junior college baseball powerhouse at Western Iowa Community College in Council Bluffs, Iowa, before succeeding former WKU coach John Pawloski last summer. Rardin did his best to stay upbeat while talking to reporters when it was over.
“I almost sound like a broken record,” Rardin said. “Timely hitting, it’s critical. We just didn’t do it … I’ve got to teach. You continue to try to educate them. It’s not being negative or anything like that, it’s just the fact of where we are at and what the reality is, what we did today and what we keep doing …
“What we’re doing, it’s not enough.”
MTSU’ COACH JERRY MEYERS AFTER THE GAME.
FOR MARC RARDIN AND THE HILLTOPPERS.
AT PETCO AFTER SATURDAY’s GAME.