The University of Kentucky (15-9) managed to score three quick runs in the first inning against the Hilltoppers (13-10), Tuesday night at Bowling Green Ballpark, but the in-state rival’s success was short-lived as WKU defeated the Wildcats 12-3. 

The game took place in Bowling Green, but away from Nick Denes Field at Bowling Green Ballpark, the home of the Bowling Green Hot Rods. The Hilltoppers are 7-1 and 4-0 against Kentucky, including tonight’s victory in front of a crowd of 3,652.

“There is definitely some magic here in this venue for us,” Head Coach Matt Myers said. “Our guys really fed off the crowd tonight. I really appreciate everyone coming out because it was really electric having close to 4,000 people being loud like they were.”

Along with the crowd, the bats of the Hilltoppers made plenty of noise in the night. WKU tied their season high of hits with 16 while also scoring a season high 12 runs. 

“We were locked in tonight and we played great offensive baseball,” senior shortstop Cody Wofford said. “We try to stay the same way for every game but it is hard not to get more amped up for a game this electric.”

Wofford enjoyed a strong offensive outing, driving in four RBI on three hits including a three-run home run in the second inning to spark WKU. 

Six Hilltopper batters garnered multiple hits, led by three from junior outfielder Kaleb Duckworth (career high), Wofford and junior third baseman Danny Hudzina. Not to be left out, junior center fielder Anderson Miller continued his hot streak and scored three runs in addition to two hits.

Ahead 9-3 in the sixth inning, Duckworth put the Wildcats away for good with a three-run homer to deep left-center field, his fourth on the year. 

“It felt great to hit that ball like I did because I have been struggling at the plate,” Duckworth said. “Today it was just all good.”

The Hilltopper pitching kept the bats of UK mostly quiet after the Wildcats’ three run first inning. After earning four hits in that inning, UK would only have three more hits in the next eight frames as they failed to score again.  

Freshman southpaw Logan Weins got that start on the mound for Hilltoppers and settled after his rocky first inning. He only allowed two more hits in the second and third innings.  

“For Logan being a true freshman that was a tough situation for him to be in,” Coach Myers said. “He came out in the second and was huge which caused us to really take off from there.” 

After Weins, four WKU pitchers combined to allow only hit and no runs for the next 6.1 innings. One of those pitchers was sophomore Sam Higgs who would earn the win for the Hilltoppers on the night after 2.1 innings of perfect pitching. 

“We are just playing as a team right now… everything is clicking for us,” Duckworth added. “Hopefully we can get some people here this weekend to cheer us on. 

Up next for WKU will be UAB in a three-game series. Action starts at 6:00 p.m. Friday night at Nick Denes Field.