COVERS FIRST BASE IN TAKING
THE TOSS FROM THE TOPS’ LUKAS FARRIS.
EIGHT WKU SENIORS HONORED BEFORE 10-2 VICTORY OVER OWLS
Everything, it seemed, was pretty much going to plan.
Western Kentucky University held its Senior Day ceremony before Saturday evening’s Conference USA game against the Rice Owls.
The Hilltoppers grabbed a 3-1 lead in the bottom of the fifth inning. They got a quality start from senior left-hander Devyn Terbrak. They played sound defense and kept hacking away at Rice right-hander J.D. McCracken.
And then, school was out.
WKU center fielder Brett Blomquist, filling in for an ailing Ty Crittenberger, battled McCracken tooth and nail to lead off the bottom of the seventh.
The Owls had trimmed their deficit to 3-2, in the top of the sixth inning, and the Hilltoppers needed some breathing room on a warm but pleasant Saturday night at WKU’s Nick Denes Field. And Blomquist would provide the impetus for the inning that put the issue to rest.
IN THE TOP OF THE SIXTH,
TRIMMING THE WKU LEAD TO ONE RUN …
BRINGING SEVEN RUNS ACROSS THE PLATE.
HAS WON 12 OF ITS LAST 14 C-USA GAMES.
“Blomquist kept fouling balls off, working the count,” WKU first-year coach Marc Rardin said afterward. “It must have been 12, 13 pitches. And he doesn’t even get a walk. He gets a base hit, which has to be even more demoralizing for a pitcher.”
Evidently, it was.
Blomquist made contact and slapped a soft line drive to shallow right field, as the Hilltoppers got the leadoff man on base for the sixth time in seven innings. McCracken had kept his team within striking distance, but that was about to change.
WKU third baseman Aidan Gilroy put down a bunt, which would easily advance the runner, before McCracken misplayed it for the only error of the game. It would be a big, big error.
Rice coach Jose Cruz Jr. then turned to his bullpen, summoning left-hander Jack Ben-Shoshan. Ben-Shoshan had an unenviable task, brought in to face WKU catcher Ricardo Leonett, who delivered the game-winning hit in the Hilltoppers’ 5-4 victory over Rice on Friday night, a walk-off double to right-center field with two outs in the bottom of the 10th inning.
A BASES-LOADED DOUBLE IN THE SEVENTH.
FOR A SWEEP IN SUNDAY’s GAME.
Ben-Shoshan couldn’t throw a strike, putting Leonett aboard with the bases loaded, and the dam would finally break. Cruz had seen enough, bringing in hard-throwing right-hander Krishna Raj after those four pitches, with the bases loaded and no outs.
WKU’s Tristin Garcia, the Tops’ leading hitter, then drew another walk, on four pitches, bringing Blomquist across the plate to make it 4-2.
Then the dam broke. Big time.
With one out, WKU senior outfielder Kirk Liebert slapped a pitch from Raj into shallow right field for an RBI single. The Hilltoppers’ dugout came to life, sensing their opportunity. Andrew Delaney lofted a single into no man’s land, in shallow center field, scoring Gilroy.
Raj recorded a second strikeout, bringing WKU shortstop A.J. Fiechter to the plate.
Fiechter ripped a Raj pitch into right-center field, extending the Hilltoppers’ lead with a bases-clearing double. Blomquist added the final blow, an RBI double to the left-field corner, and the Hilltoppers would coast the rest of the way behind right-handed relievers Mason Burns and C.J. Weins.
Western Kentucky 10, Rice 2.
HIS SIXTH VICTORY AGAINST THREE DEFEATS.
AN ABILITY TO MANUFACTURE RUNS.
And just another day at the office for WKU’s first-year coach, Marc Rardin, who left a junior college powerhouse in Iowa Western Community College to become the Hilltoppers’ head coach just 11 months ago.
Western Kentucky improved to 29-22 overall, and more important, 14-12 in Conference USA. The Owls dropped to 18-33 overall, and 7-19 in C-USA games. The game also marked the fifth consecutive weekend in which WKU claimed at least two victories in a conference series, something that hasn’t happened since 2009.
When the Hilltoppers were still toiling in the Sun Belt Conference.
Which was the last time Western Kentucky played in the NCAA Tournament, forcing a winner-take-all game in a four-team regional at Ole Miss, only to drop a 4-1 decision to the Rebels and left-hander Drew Pomeranz, a first-round MLB draft pick.
CONSISTENCY AT THE PLATE.
“We’re looking at a lot of ‘firsts,’ a lot of things that haven’t happened in a while,” Rardin said with a grin. “It’s great to have Burns and Weins in there, throwing strikes.
“It just gets it started (in the seventh). Then, there are some walks involved, and a couple bleeders. Their pitchers just weren’t throwing strikes, and that helped as well. And then you have A.J. (Fiechter) with two big hits, and four RBI, just doing his thing.”
Just doing their thing.
LEADS THE TOPS WITH EIGHT SAVES.
That’s what’s happening at Nick Denes Field these days.
Senior left-hander Devyn Terbrak, in his third season with the Hilltoppers, scattered six hits and just one walk over six innings. He struck out seven batters before turning the game over to Burns, the winning pitcher in Friday night’s dramatic 5-4 victory in 10 innings.
Burns and Weins, the Tops’ closer, continued that trend. Burns hurled two innings of no-hit relief with four strikeouts. And then, perhaps, in a bit of gamesmanship, Weins finished the task at hand.
The hard-throwing WKU right-hander needed just 13 pitches to strike out the side, and finish the task at hand. Weins ended it by slipping a called third strike past Rice catcher Manny Garza. The Hilltoppers took another step toward 30 victories, something that hasn’t happened since 2011.
“That’s another first,” Rardin said.
Terbrak is just one of the eight WKU seniors thrilled to be a part of it.
“It’s good. It’s really special that I could be a part of it,” Terbrak said. “With Coach Rardin, it’s ‘his way or the highway,’ but he’s very supportive out there. He instills confidence with our team.”
The Hilltoppers will go for the sweep in Sunday’s regular-season home finale, a noon game against the Owls. They’ll travel to Dallas later this week for their final Conference USA series, at Dallas Baptist University. DBU is a baseball-only member sporting an impressive 22-4 league record, and the Patriots (39-12) have almost certainly already played their way into the NCAA Tournament.
Texas-San Antonio (36-14 overall, 19-6 in C-USA) isn’t far behind, and the Roadrunners seem on their way to making an NCAA Tournament appearance, too.
That makes two.
The Hilltoppers will get their chance, to make it three, in due time. They’re pretty much playing with house money, at this time, embracing the journey without undue pressure.
They’re having fun playing baseball, and they’ve completed the spring semester on the academic front.
Opportunity is knocking, and the Tops have learned how to embrace it.
Stay tuned.
IN THE NINTH INNING.
STEVE ROBERTSON, AT THE NICK …
TO GO TO THE GAME ON SUNDAY …