{"id":21381,"date":"2026-05-22T15:56:35","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T15:56:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jimmashek.com\/?p=21381"},"modified":"2026-05-22T16:47:32","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T16:47:32","slug":"tops-at-the-crossroads-western-kentucky-baseballs-season-on-the-line-in-c-usa-tourney-game-with-jacksonville-state","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jimmashek.com\/?p=21381","title":{"rendered":"TOPS AT THE CROSSROADS\/Western Kentucky baseball’s season on the line in today’s C-USA tourney game against Jacksonville State"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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WESTERN KENTUCKY’s SEASON
IS ON THE LINE IN FRIDAY’s GAME
AGAINST JAX STATE IN KENNESAW, GEORGIA.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

HILLTOPPERS NEED VICTORY OVER GAMECOCKS TO REACH SATURDAY’s SEMIFINALS IN KENNESAW, GEORGIA <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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After a series of twists and turns — some weather related, others not — the Western Kentucky University baseball team finds itself in familiar position on Friday morning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Win, or go home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Literally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Western Kentucky opened Conference USA Tournament play with a workmanlike 8-2 victory over traditional rival Middle Tennessee State on Wednesday, thumping the Blue Raiders, 8-2, at refurbished Micky Dunn Stadium, the home of the Kennesaw State Owls in Metro Atlanta.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Hilltoppers finally reached the 30-win plateau for the fourth consecutive season under fourth-year head coach Marc Rardin, but that was just one of their goals for the season when WKU began the season in the chilly climes of February at Nick Denes Field.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Western Kentucky was intent on getting back to the NCAA Tournament.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And now their chances have come down to one game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One big game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One big game against Jacksonville State on Friday afternoon in Kennesaw, Georgia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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WKU’s MARC RARDIN HAS COMPILED
A RECORD OF 145-87 IN HIS FOUR SEASONS.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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THE HILLTOPPERS CELEBRATE
LAST YEAR’s C-USA TITLE
IN LYNCHBURG, VIRGINIA.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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Rardin’s Hilltoppers and Jax State have been biding their time in Kennesaw, while Liberty University and Louisiana Tech play for the final time in pool play in the C-USA Tournament. At the conclusion of their game, Western Kentucky and Jacksonville State will tangle in pool play with the field almost set for Saturday’s semifinals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just like last year, in Lynchburg, Virginia, the Hilltoppers have to win to keep playing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And to get to the NCAA Tournament, as Marc Rardin’s squad accomplished in 2025, the first time the Hilltoppers had reached that milestone in 16 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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‘WE’RE CONFIDENT IN OURSELVES.
WE KNOW WHAT’s AT STAKE, SO
WE’RE GONNA LEAVE IT ALL ON THE FIELD.”
— WKU SENIOR INFIELDER AUSTIN HALLER.<\/strong>
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NOTHING TOO COMPLICATED HERE …<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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WKU’s AUSTIN HALLER SCORES
THE WINNING RUN IN LAST YEAR’s
C-USA TITLE GAME AGAINST JAX STATE.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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Western Kentucky (30-25) will face No. 1-seeded Jax State (42-13) fully aware that the Tops need a victory over the Gamecocks to get a chance to defend their championship over the Memorial Day weekend. Liberty took care of business in its pool play game against Louisiana Tech, taking a 6-0 victory in the tournament’s first game on Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Louisiana Tech is on its way to the Sun Belt Conference for the 2026-27 academic year.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

WKU senior second baseman Austin Haller, in his third and final season with the Hilltoppers, understands the task at hand. He played a major role in WKU’s five victories in last year’s Conference USA Tournament, scoring the winning run as the Hilltoppers outlasted Jax State, 6-5, in 11 innings at Liberty University’s Worthington Field.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We’re confident in ourselves,” Haller said, via text message, on Friday morning. “We know what’s at stake, so we’re gonna leave it all on the field. We know it’s not gonna be easy, so we’re gonna give it our all.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

WKU junior right-hander Ka’Olu Holt will get the starting assignment in Friday’s do-or-die game against Jacksonville State. WKU coach Marc Rardin plans to implement a flexible pitching strategy, given the stakes of the Hilltoppers’ final game in pool play. Holt has compiled a 3-1 record with a 5.70 ERA this season, but the latter figure may be misleading, given his performances of late.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Hilltoppers struggled mightily against Jax Sate in mid-March, getting swept by the Gamecocks in three consecutive games in an early C-USA series. None of those games were particularly competitive, and Jax State has gone on to put together another strong season in pursuit of an NCAA Tournament berth itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jax State and Missouri State are good bets to land NCAA Tournament at-large berths, if they don’t win the tournament championship, but it’s a different sort of landscape for WKU, Dallas Baptist and other squads. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’ve exchanged texts with WKU coach Marc Rardin over the last couple days, too, and I’ll keep y’all updated the best I can. Plan to watch the game on ESPN Plus at a sports bar later today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thanks for reading jimmashek.com …<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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PIPER’s MESSAGE? ‘GO TOPS!
MY DADDY LOVES <\/em>ROAD TRIPS!!’<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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HILLTOPPERS NEED VICTORY OVER GAMECOCKS TO REACH SATURDAY’s SEMIFINALS IN KENNESAW, GEORGIA After a series of twists and turns — […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":21390,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,19,1,17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21381","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hsbaseball","category-nationalsports","category-potpourri","category-wkusports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jimmashek.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21381","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=21381"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/jimmashek.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21381\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21399,"href":"https:\/\/jimmashek.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21381\/revisions\/21399"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimmashek.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/21390"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jimmashek.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=21381"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimmashek.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=21381"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimmashek.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=21381"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}