{"id":20867,"date":"2026-04-19T21:30:18","date_gmt":"2026-04-19T21:30:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jimmashek.com\/?p=20867"},"modified":"2026-04-19T21:35:46","modified_gmt":"2026-04-19T21:35:46","slug":"softball-tops-on-top-wku-completes-three-game-sweep-of-utep-8-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jimmashek.com\/?p=20867","title":{"rendered":"SOFTBALL TOPS ON TOP\/WKU completes three-game sweep of UTEP, 8-3"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
THE HILLTOPPERS TOOK
CONTROL WITH SIX RUNS
IN THE FOURTH INNING.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HILLTOPPERS HAVE WON 11 OF THEIR LAST 13 GAMES; KENNESAW STATE COMES TO BOWLING GREEN LATER THIS WEEK<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Western Kentucky’s Erica Hague made it happen in the circle, and her Hilltopper softball teammates erased an early one-run deficit to complete a three-game sweep against Conference USA opponent UTEP, 8-3, on a brisk Sunday afternoon at the WKU Softball Complex.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Western Kentucky improved to 33-10 overall and 15-6 in conference play. The Hilltoppers and Liberty are tied for second place in the C-USA standings, trailing only Jacksonville State (35-12, 19-2 in C-USA) by four games with just two three-game conference series before the league tournament at starting May 5 in Newark, Delaware.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Hilltoppers have won five straight games and 11 of their last 13. They’ll play host to Kennesaw State in the final home C-USA series starting Friday. Kennesaw State is buried in last place in the league standings, with a 3-18 record in conference play.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Owls are 7-36 overall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
WKU’s ERICA HOGUE FIELDS A SPINNER
TO THE RIGHT SIDE BEFORE RETIRING
UTEP’s M.J. NICHOLSON AT FIRST.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
UTEP CATCHER KENNA CARRANZA UNLOADS
A THREE-RUN HOME RUN IN THE FOURTH …<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
… BUT THE MINERS
FAILED TO SCORE AGAIN.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Western Kentucky trailed briefly, 3-2, after UTEP catcher Kenna Carranza unloaded a three-game home run to left-center field in the top of the fourth inning. WKU’s Erica Hogue had dominated the Miners until that inning, but they capitalized on a misplayed fly ball to open the inning and Illana Munoz’s touch single through the left side with one out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Carrenza connected on a 2-2 pitch for a three-run shot into the parking garage beyond the left-field fence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Hilltoppers wasted little time erasing that one-run deficit in the bottom of the fourth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

WKU’s Morgan Slate brought in one run with a line-drive double into left-center field, and the Hilltoppers’ Lauren Satterly made it 5-3 with a two-run single through the right side. Pinch hitter Macy Gregor delivered an RBI single to right field and the Hilltoppers scored six runs before UTEP could retire the side<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
THE HILLTOPPERS SCORED SIX RUNS AND
<\/strong> WENT ON TO COMPLETE THE THREE-GAME SWEEP.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
WKU CATCHER LAUREN SATTERLY DELIVERS
A TWO-RUN SINGLE IN THE FOURTH<\/strong> INNING.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

WKU right-hander Erica Hogue, a senior pitcher\/utility player from Collins, Iowa, went five innings in tghe circle and improved to 19-3 on the season. WKU teammate Rylann Thomas worked the final two innings to complete the task at hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

UTEP right-hander Hanna Jones (0-3) took the loss for the Miners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
THE HILLTOPPERS (33-10 OVERALL) SALUTE
THE SUNDAY AFTERNOON CROWD WHILE
THE WKU FIGHT SONG PLAYS OVER THE PA SYSTEM.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
LOOKS LIKE PIPER IS READY
TO GO TO THE DOG PARK …<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

HILLTOPPERS HAVE WON 11 OF THEIR LAST 13 GAMES; KENNESAW STATE COMES TO BOWLING GREEN LATER THIS WEEK Western Kentucky’s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":20876,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20867","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-potpourri","category-wkusports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jimmashek.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20867","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jimmashek.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jimmashek.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimmashek.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimmashek.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=20867"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/jimmashek.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20867\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20880,"href":"https:\/\/jimmashek.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20867\/revisions\/20880"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimmashek.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/20876"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jimmashek.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=20867"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimmashek.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=20867"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimmashek.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=20867"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}