WKU to play Belmont, Austin Peay

Junior catcher Devin Kelly reaches for a tipped ball at the plate during their game against MTSU Saturday in Murfreesboro, Tenn. The series started conference play for the Toppers in which they lost two of their three games at MTSU.

Kurt Carson

After going 1-2 in their Sun Belt Conference-opening series against Middle Tennessee State this weekend, the Toppers will look to get back on track against a couple of non-conference opponents.

WKU (8-11, 1-2) will take the field again at 6 p.m.  Tuesday when it hosts Belmont at Nick Denes Field.

The Toppers are 17-17 all-time against the Bruins, with their last meeting on March 30 of last season resulting in a 9-8 loss for WKU.

Tuesday’s game will be the first of two matchups between WKU and Belmont as well as Austin Peay, WKU’s opponent on Wednesday.

The Toppers will head to Clarksville, Tenn., at 6 p.m. Wednesday for a visit with the Governors. WKU is 44-32 all-time in Clarksville against Austin Peay.

WKU will be looking to rebound from a rough weekend that left them with a losing record in Sun Belt play.

A solid outing by sophomore right-hander Justin Hageman and a grand slam from senior right fielder Ryan Hutchison led the Toppers to a 9-2 win in Friday’s series opener.

However, WKU dropped the final two games of the series by a combined 13 runs.

Saturday’s game was affected with four rain delays that caused the game to be suspended in the eighth inning and was left to be finished on Sunday before the series finale. The Blue Raiders maintained a solid lead from the third inning on that allowed them to win 7-2.

On Sunday, MTSU junior first baseman Ethan Williams hit three home runs that accumulated seven RBIs on the way to a 9-1 Blue Raider victory.

WKU will get back to SBC play this weekend when it takes on Florida International beginning at 6 p.m. on Friday.