WKU Baseball completes first series sweep of season against Hartford

WKU+junior+pitcher+Mason+Vinyard+pitches+during+the+game+against+Western+Illinois+University+at+Nick+Denes+field+on+Feb.+20%2C+2022.

Allie Hendricks

WKU junior pitcher Mason Vinyard pitches during the game against Western Illinois University at Nick Denes field on Feb. 20, 2022.

Camden Bush, Baseball Reporter

WKU (7-4) had a great day at Nick Denes Field, winning both games of a doubleheader against the University of Hartford (0-6) Saturday afternoon.

WKU’s pitching staff was amazing throughout the day as the group allowed only two runs through two nine inning games.

The Hilltopper offense was outstanding in game one and was good enough to win in game two. The offense was very spread out on the day as 11 different batters recorded hits. Freshman Ty Batusich had the best showing, recording three hits that included his fifth homerun of the year.

“We got momentum last week going against Kentucky,” Batusich said. “We’re all feeling good, everyone’s hitting, everyone’s a big part of it. Taking three out of this [series] was very big for us.”

Game 1

WKU obliterated Hartford 11-0 in the first game of the doubleheader.

WKU senior starting pitcher Sean Bergeron pitched a complete game shutout, allowing three hits while striking out 16 batters and not walking anyone. Hartford’s starting pitcher James Judenis went four innings, allowing six runs and four earned runs on nine hits.

“I was very happy,” Bergeron said. “You’ve just always got to give your team a chance to win and let good things happen, so I kept my pitch count down and let my defense work behind me.”

The Hilltoppers put up 11 runs on 15 hits. Batusich and junior Matthew Meyer led the way offensively for WKU. Batusich had three hits, including a homerun and four RBIs. Meyer recorded two hits and three RBIs. The Hawks recorded only three hits throughout the game.

Bergeron struck out the side to get things under way in the top of the first. Judenis retired the first two batters he faced in the bottom of the first before allowing a single to Batusich. Batusich stole second before junior Tristin Garcia reached first on an error to put runners on the corners. Judenis forced a groundout, stranding them.

Hartford went down in order again to start the second as Bergeron struck out two more. The first two batters reached on catcher’s interference to start the bottom of the second. Freshman Brett Blomquist followed with a bunt single. 

Freshman AJ Fiechter put the Hilltoppers on the board with an RBI single. Meyer knocked in two more with a single of his own. With one out in the inning, Batusich launched a three-run homerun to left center field, giving WKU a 6-0 lead. Junior Tristin Garcia followed with a single, then Judenis retired the next two to end the inning.

Bergeron recorded another 1-2-3 inning in the top of the third while recording his sixth and seventh strikeouts of the day. Senior Justin Carlin led off the bottom of the third with a single. The Hawks ended the inning on a fielder’s choice and a 6-4-3 double play.

The Hawks recorded their first hit of the day in the fourth on a one-out single by senior Donnie Cohoon. Bergeron ended the inning in the next at bat by forcing a 6-4-3 double play. Meyer led off the bottom of the fourth with a single and Hartford forced another double play in the next at bat. Batusich followed with a single for his third hit of the day. Judenis struck out Garcia to end the inning.

Bergeron retired the first two batters he faced in the top of the fifth before allowing a ground-rule double to sophomore Daniel Burnett. Bergeron ended the inning, forcing a flyout. 

Senior Julien Giroux-Harvey started the bottom of the fifth on the mound for Hartford. Junior Jackson Gray led off the bottom of the inning with a triple. Sophomore Andrew Delaney followed with a ground ball RBI single. The Hilltoppers picked up another run in the next at bat when Blomquist reached on an error, putting WKU up 8-0. 

Giroux-Harvey walked the next batter to load the bases. Meyer drew a walk in the next at bat, pushing in another run to make it 9-0. Sophomore Nick Gatton replaced Giroux-Harvey with the bases loaded and no outs. Gatton struck out the first batter he faced, then forced an RBI groundout to Batusich, extending the Hilltopper lead to 10-0. Gatton struck out Garcia to end the inning.

Hartford went down in order in the top of the sixth as Bergeron added two more strikeouts to his statline. Gatton retired the Hilltoppers in order to end the sixth. 

The Hawks got a single on an infield pop up that fell in due to the wind, but couldn’t manage anything else in the seventh. Fiechter singled with one out in the bottom of the seventh but that was all the Hilltoppers could manage in the inning. 

Bergeron put the Hawks in order again in the eighth as he recorded his 13th and 14th strikeouts of the day. Freshman Edwin Almanzar Jr. started the bottom of the eighth on the mound for Hartford. Senior pinch hitter Brian McAuliffe doubled to start the bottom of the eighth. Redshirt sophomore pinch hitter Ty Crittenberger expanded the Hilltopper lead with an RBI single up the middle, making it 11-0. Almanzar Jr. retired the next batter to end the inning.

Bergeron returned to the hill to close out the game in the ninth and sat down the Hawks in order, recording two more strikeouts and giving the Hilltoppers a 11-0 victory.

“Sean Bergeron, you can’t say enough about what he did,” WKU head coach John Pawlowski said. “Nine innings, three hits if I’m not mistaken [and] 16 strikeouts and no walks. Unbelievable performance certainly should be up for National Pitcher of the Week.”

Game 2

WKU narrowly defeated Hartford 3-2 in the second game of the doubleheader.

WKU Junior Devyn Terbrak picked up the win, going six innings and allowing one run on four hits with three strikeouts. Hartford senior Will Nowak went five innings, allowing one run on two hits with five strikeouts.

“You look at the first two games, and we scored a lot of runs and it’s never going to be that easy,” Pawlowski said. “They played a great game [in] game three where we were certainly challenged. We scored three runs, one more than they did, and that was great. I liked the way we pitched. I thought Terbrak did a great job and Cooper Hellman and Mason Vinyard came in and closed it out. So that was great to see”

Gilroy and Garcia led the way for the Hilltoppers offensively in game two of the doubleheader. Both batters recorded two hits, accounting for all four of the team’s hits in the game. Junior Tremayne Cobb Jr. led the Hawks offensively with two hits, including a homerun. 

Terbrak retired the Hawks in order to get things started. Nowak struck out the first batter he faced in the bottom of the first. Gilroy followed with an infield single before he stole second with two outs in the inning. Garcia knocked him in with an RBI double, giving WKU an early 1-0 lead. Nowak retired the next batter to end the inning.

Terbrak made quick work of the Hawks in the second as he recorded another 1-2-3 inning. Nowak returned the favor in the bottom of the frame, sitting the Hilltoppers down in order.

The first two Hartford batters were retired to start the third before senior Kevin Koziol singled. Terbrak walked the next batter but ended the inning by forcing a flyout. Nowak retired the Hilltoppers in order again to end the third.

Cobb Jr. led off the top of the fourth with a double. Terbrak retired the next three in order to end the inning. Nowak retired the first batter he faced in the fourth before Garcia to reach second on an error. Nowak retired the next two to end the inning. 

Junior Logan Cole started the fifth inning with an infield single. Terbrak retired the next three to strand another base runner. Nowak allowed a walk but nothing else in the bottom of the fifth.

Junior Derek Tenney doubled to start the sixth inning with one out and Burnett knocked him in later with a sac fly to center, tying the game 1-1. The next batter reached on an error, but Terbrak retired the next batter to end the inning. 

Senior Donnie Cohoon started the bottom of the sixth on the mound for the Hawks. Gilroy led off the bottom of the inning with a single. Gilroy reached second on an errant throw on a pickoff attempt.

Garcia knocked Gilroy in with a one-out RBI double, giving the Hilltoppers a 2-1 lead. Cohoon forced a fielder’s choice while Gray took second on the play in a rundown. Gray scored from second on a wild pitch in the next at bat, making it 3-1. Cohoon struck out Delaney to end the inning.

Freshman Cooper Hellman pitched the seventh inning for WKU. Hellman allowed a walk in the inning but nothing else. Junior Manny Corporan started on the mound for the Hawks in the bottom of the inning. Corporan hit the first batter he faced but did not allow any further damage in the inning.

Hellman retired the first two batters he faced in the top of the eighth before allowing a solo homer to left field by Cobb Jr. Hellman was able to strike out the next batter to end the inning. Freshman Alec Couture took the mound for the Hawks in the bottom of the eighth and retired the Hilltoppers in order.

Junior Mason Vinyard came in to close out the game for the Hilltoppers in the ninth. Vinyard struck out the first two batters he faced before allowing a single. Vinyard hit the next batter to put runners on first and second. Vinyard struck out the next batter to end the game and give the Hilltoppers a 3-2 victory and a series sweep.

“The guys are feeling pretty good about what we’ve done,” Pawlowski said. “You play 18 innings in a day, the guys are tired. It’s been a long day, we played three games, we’ll get in the weight room tomorrow. Get off our feet a little bit and get ourselves ready to go on Tuesday.”

Up next, the Hilltoppers will travel to Richmond, Kentucky to face EKU in a midweek game on Tuesday. First pitch for the game is set for 3 p.m. CT. 

Baseball Reporter Camden Bush can be reached at [email protected].