THE TYING RUN WITH TWO OUTS IN THE NINTH.
EX-BGHS STANDOUT DAWSON HALL GETS THE START FOR WKU IN GAME THREE
Marc Rardin, Western Kentucky University’s first-year baseball head coach, believes in positive thinking, embracing the grind and mastering the fundamentals.
And it’s starting to pay off for the Hilltoppers.
Western Kentucky spotted visiting Florida Atlantic University a 7-1 lead in Game Two of a Conference USA doubleheader on Saturday at WKU’s Nick Denes Field. The Hilltoppers battled back, forcing extra innings by scoring the tying run with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, and WKU would go on to slip past the Owls 9-8 in 14 pulsating innings.
Western Kentucky improved to 21-19 overall and 6-11 in Conference USA play, and the Hilltoppers will go for the three-game sweep in the series finale at 1 p.m. Sunday. Florida Atlantic, meanwhile, dropped to 23-17 overall and 7-10 in Conference USA play.
TRIES TO FIELD A KIRK LEIBERT’s BUNT IN THE 14th …
AND WKU’s A.J. FIECTHER SCORES THE WINNING RUN.
The Tops needed a dramatic comeback to subdue Florida Atlantic in the first game, too, scoring five runs in their final two at bats to claim a 6-4 victory over the Owls on a cool, windy day at The Nick. Florida Atlantic led that game 4-1 after the top of the seventh inning, but the Hilltoppers capitalized on the Owls’ defensive woes to go in front in the bottom half before adding an insurance run in the eighth.
“You can see a fight in them,” Rardin said. “We’re spotting (opponents) runs and finding a way to come back and win. In the second game, with the extra innings … when you’re the home team, you know you’ve got those last three outs.”
The Hilltoppers forced extra innings in that game in improbable fashion, to say the least.
TO WIN GAME TWO IN 14 INNINGS, 9-8.
Western trailed 7-1 until Ty Batusich’s bases-loaded double to right-center field brought three runs across the plate in the sixth. Then the Hilltoppers scored at least one run in each of the next three innings, with WKU shortstop Drew Reckart using alert base running to score after Brett Blomquist lined a pitch from FAU reliever Evan Waterbor for a single into left-center field with two outs in the bottom of the ninth.
Reckart stopped at third base until FAU shortstop Armando Albert mishandled the throw from the field, and he scampered home before beating the tag by the Owls’ Caleb Pendleton at the plate.
Florida Atlantic regrouped from there, and neither team could muster much offense in extra-inning play through the 13th.
INTERVIEWED BY WKU RADIO VOICE RANDY LEE
AFTER THE DRAMATIC GAME TWO VICTORY.
WKU reliever Mason Burns turned in a magnificent performance, working five innings for the victory while allowing just two hits and striking out five batters. The Tops got out of the 13th on a slick 6-3 double play handled by A.J. Fiechter at shortstop, and Burns (5-0) retired the Owls in order in the top of the 14th inning.
That set the stage for the Hilltoppers in a game that was approaching four hours.
AND HIS PLAYERS PLOT
STRATEGY IN THE 14th INNING.
FAU reliever Robert Wegielnik, who did a fine job keeping his team in the game in extra innings, walked Fiechter on a 3-1 pitch to open the 14th.
WKU’s Brett Blomquist then slapped a single up the middle, bringing the winning run to second base with no outs.
FAU coach John McCormack went to his bullpen at that point, bringing in the left-hander, Evan Waterbor, to face the Tops’ Kirk Leibert. Liebert put down a fine bunt to the left side of the mound, and Waterbor rushed to make the play, making a throw that got away from FAU star Nolan Schanuel at first base. That allowed Fiechter to scamper home with the winning run, bringing the Hilltoppers’ players out of their dugout and into shallow right field for an impromptu celebration.
KEPT HIS TEAM IN THE GAME IN EXTRA INNINGS.
“They just had some miscommunication on that play,” Rardin said. “We’ve been on the other end, of those kinds of games … We’re getting the kinds of breaks that we probably weren’t getting earlier in the season.”
Florida Atlantic has reached the NCAA Tournament six times, most recently in 2019, since the Hilltoppers’ last regional appearance at Ole Miss in 2009. Western will go for the three-game sweep of the Owls in Game Three of the Conference USA series at 1 p.m. Sunday. Former Bowling Green High School standout Dawson Hall (4-3, 3.29 ERA) will get the starting assignment for the Hilltoppers.
“I think we’re opening some eyes,” Rardin said. “There’s energy out there … I’ve been here since about 6:30 in the morning, and players had their cleats on for 10:30, for the first game at 1.
“You can see it, the attitude, the effort.”
WITH MORE THAN A HANDFUL OF FLY BALLS.
IN THE FIFTH INNING OF GAME TWO.
In the first game, Western fell behind 3-1 after the top of the fifth. The Hilltoppers rocked FAU reliever Hunter Cooley in the bottom of the seventh, scoring four runs to get their first lead of the game.
WKU closer C.J. Weins earned his sixth save of the season by retiring the Owls in order in the top of the ninth. The Hilltoppers’ Dalton Mesaris (2-1) was the winning pitcher, while Cooley took the loss for Florida Atlantic.
WKU’s Lukas Farris unloaded his seventh home run of the season. John Schanuel, the FAU slugger, went 2-for-3 with a double and a triple.
THE THREE-GAME SWEEP ON SUNDAY.
In Game Two, Florida Atlantic struck for five runs in the top of the third against WKU starter Devyn Terbrak. Schanuel had a two-run triple to the right-field corner and FAU teammate John Schroeder added a solo home run to left field to highlight the frame.
Ty Batusich, the WKU designated hitter, lined a pitch from the Owls’ Jacob Josey into right-center field for a bases-loaded double that made it 7-4 in the bottom of the sixth.
The Tops’ Cameron Ross had a run-scoring single in the eighth, trimming the FAU lead to 8-6, before the Owls’ Caleb Pendleton couldn’t handle Robert Wegilnik’s third strike against WKU leadoff man Ty Crittenberger.
The Owls avoided further damage, but Drew Reckart’s alert base running with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning to tie the game at 8.
Pitching became the name of the game, going into extra innings, but the Hilltoppers made it happen with the short game in the 14th. Kirk Liebert’s bunt single to the left of the mound forced FAU to make the play.
A play the Owls couldn’t make.
IN THE BOTTOM OF THE 12th INNING.
EXPLAINS A CRITICAL CALL IN THE NINTH.
WAS INJURED IN EXTRA INNINGS
BUT RETURNED TO FINISH THE GAME.
IN SWEEPING THE DOUBLEHEADER.
AFTER THE DRAMATIC 9-8 VICTORY IN 14 INNINGS.