UNLOADED A SOLO HOME RUN
TO THE LEFT-FIELD CORNER IN THE FIFTH.
WESTERN POSTS FIRST THREE-GAME SWEEP OF OWLS IN SCHOOL HISTORY
They scored first, they extended their lead, and they turned to their closer in the ninth inning.
It was a little more of a conventional afternoon of baseball at Western Kentucky University’s Nick Denes Field.
The Hilltoppers completed a three-game sweep of tradition-rich Florida Atlantic University on Sunday, turning back the Owls 4-2 on a chilly but sunny afternoon at The Nick.
“It’s just quality pitches. Even at the end here, when we have the lead we have,” WKU first-year coach Marc Rardin said. “(Closer) C.J. (Weins) is just pitching to contact … I mean, we are just trying to get outs.”
EARNED HIS FIFTH VICTORY AGAINST THREE DEFEATS.
The Hilltoppers got a quality start from true freshman Dawson Hall, who was pitching last year at Bowling Green High School. Cam Tullar was brilliant in his three-inning relief stint — not surprising, perhaps, given that he’s pitched in the College World Series — before Weins completed the task at hand.
Western Kentucky gave its fans an afternoon to remember as the Hilltoppers improved to 22-19 overall and 7-11 in Conference USA. The Owls, who have made four NCAA Tournament appearances since 2015, dropped to 23-18 overall and 7-11 in Conference USA.
The Tops came out on top, and they’re already looking ahead to Tuesday night’s road game against Austin Peay State University, as well as resuming Conference USA play, at home, against the Charlotte 49ers on Friday.
“Tomorrow doesn’t care what you did today,” Rardin said. “I teach the guys you have to roll out of bed and punch the clock … ‘DMGB,’ doesn’t matter, get better.”
STARTS A DOUBLE PLAY TO GET
THE HILLTOPPERS OUT OF THE EIGHTH INNING.
You could certainly make the case that the Hilltoppers have gotten better over the last 72 hours or so.
On Saturday, Western rallied from a 4-1 deficit in the late innings to claim a 6-4 victory over the Owls, and the Hilltoppers completed a doubleheader sweep in more spectacular fashion, wiping out Florida Atlantic’s 7-1 lead before prevailing 9-8 in 14 innings.
That put Dawson Hall, the freshman right-hander from BGHS, in the spotlight for Sunday’s game.
The 6-foot-1 Hall worked fast, kept the ball around the plate and let his defense do most of the work, logging five innings (78 pitches) before yielding to WKU left-hander Cam Tullar after five innings.
Tullar, a member of Mississippi State’s 2021 national championship squad, went right at the Owls’ lineup, including FAU star first baseman Nolan Schanuel, who is batting around .450 with 15 home runs, 15 more extra-base hits and 47 RBI.
Schanuel, in fact, led off the ninth with a bloop single off WKU’s C.J. Weins, before the Owls’ Dylan Goldstein ripped a double into the alley in left-center field. A diving play by Tops center fielder Ty Crittenberger kept the ball from getting to the wall, however, before Weins gave up back-to-back, run-scoring ground balls and a fly ball to Crittenberger at the warning track to seal the deal.
HELPED MISSISSIPPI STATE
WIN A NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP IN 2021.
“Our defense is getting better and better each game,” Tullar said.
Western chased FAU’s starting pitcher, right-hander Nicholas Del Prado, in the bottom of the fourth inning before extending its lead to 4-0 with two runs in the fifth.
Hilltoppers left fielder Andrew Delaney crushed a pitch from FAU right-hander Brandon Smith that fell just inside The Nick’s left-field foul pole for his first home run of the season after teammate Ty Batusich came through with a sacrifice fly. That would be all the run support the WKU pitching staff would need.
“Coach (Dillon) Napoleon has done a tremendous job with Dawson and our other young pitchers,” WKU coach Marc Rardin said. “I brought Dillon here from Iowa Western (where Rardin won three NJCAA national championships in 21 years) … I knew that was what we had to do, at Western Kentucky. Develop pitchers.
“This is how baseball goes, most of the time, after the big comebacks on Saturday.”
Hall, making his seventh start of the season, allowed multiple base runners just once, in the first inning. That’s when WKU shortstop A.J. Fietcher started a 6-4-3 double play to retire the side, after which Hall retired 10 of the next 11 batters he faced.
Hall earned his fifth victory of the season against three defeats.
“Dawson’s a great kid. The first day I met him, I could tell he had a little mojo,” said Tullar, a tough left-handed customer out of the bullpen. “He’s coming along great … The train’s getting hot, we’ve got to get everybody on board.”
Hall struck out five FAU batters while allowing just two hits and one walk over his three innings on the mound.
HIS SEVENTH SAVE OF THE SEASON.
WKU second baseman Tristin Garcia had an RBI single in the first inning, a line drive to right-center field, before the Hilltoppers added an unearned run in the bottom of the fourth. In the fifth, WKU’s Drew Reckart drew a leadoff walk from FAU right-hander Brandon Smith before scoring later on Ty Batusich’s sacrifice fly to center field.
Solid, fundamental baseball was pretty much the difference in this one.
That’s what Marc Rardin has in mind for the Hilltoppers, going forward.
“Doesn’t matter, get better,” as Rardin likes to say.
Western is on the road against former OVC rival Austin Peay State on Tuesday night in Clarksville, Tennessee. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m.
JOINED FORCES WITH BIG RED ON SUNDAY …
THAT PIPER’s A FIVE-TOOL PLAYER.