WKU seniors go out with 7-4 win

Kurt Carson

WKU had already been eliminated from Sun Belt Championship competition before the first pitch was thrown in Saturday’s game.

However, the Toppers still had plenty to play for in their meeting with Louisiana-Monroe.

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Five seniors — third baseman Casey Dykes, right fielder Ryan Hutchison, second baseman Ivan Hartle, center fielder Jared Andreoli and right-hander Ross Hammonds — took the field for the last time in WKU uniforms.

They went out on a high note as WKU (25-33) defeated ULM (30-28) by a score of 7-4 in front of 792 fans at Bowling Green Ballpark.

Dykes, Hutchison and Andreoli all had two hits apiece while Hartle picked up a hit as well.

After ULM took an early 1-0 lead, Hutchison tied the game with a solo home run in the top of the second inning.

The Warhawks regained their edge at 2-1 but WKU used a five-run fifth inning to take control of the game.

An RBI single by Dykes, a two-RBI single by junior first baseman Ryan Huck and a two-run bomb by junior designated hitter Adam Lavelle gave the Toppers a comfortable 6-2 advantage.

WKU added on in the top of the sixth inning when Dykes launched his third home run of the season to stretch the edge to 7-2.

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Hammonds came in to pitch for his last time and threw a perfect 2/3 of an inning.

The Warhawks tacked on two runs in the bottom of the ninth but it wasn’t enough to overcome a 7-4 Toppers’ victory.

The win marked the last game of WKU’s 2012 campaign.