WKU Baseball faced the MTSU Blue Raiders in a three-game series in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, March 17-19. The Hilltoppers dropped two of three games over the weekend. 

WKU lost tight contests Friday and Sunday, but picked up a win Saturday.

Despite losing the series, the Hilltoppers had a strong offensive performance in each game. WKU totaled 24 runs and 27 hits over the three-game series.  

Game 1

The Hilltoppers fell in game one of the series 12-8 on Friday to the Blue Raiders.

Sophomore AJ Fiechter led a WKU offense that tallied 11 hits in the contest. Fiechter tallied three hits and three RBIs.

Senior Dalton Mesaris picked up the loss in relief for the Hilltoppers despite only allowing two of MTSU’s 12 runs. Mesaris allowed two hits over 3.2 innings of work. 

MTSU got off to a quick start with three runs in the bottom of the first. The Blue Raiders recorded an RBI single and a two RBI single in the inning, to make it a 3-0 game. 

The Blue Raiders added to their lead in the second with two more RBI singles and a run scoring on an error to make it a 6-0 game.

The Hilltoppers offense came alive with a solo homer by Farris in the third to cut the deficit to 6-1.

WKU cut further into the deficit with two runs in the fifth on an RBI single and an RBI double. 

The Hilltoppers offense continued to add on with two-RBI singles in the sixth and the seventh, to take a 7-6 lead.

MTSU instantly responded in the seventh with four runs of their own to take back the lead 10-7. The Blue Raiders scored on a Sac Fly, a two RBI triple and a sacrifice bunt.

The Blue Raiders recorded a two-RBI single in the eighth and the Hilltoppers scored one in the ninth on an RBI single. MTSU closed out the game with a 12-8 victory.

Game 2

The Hilltoppers bounced back in Game two with an 8-4 victory over MTSU on Saturday.

Freshman Luke Farris led the Hilltoppers offensively with a strong performance. Farris recorded two hits, two runs and three RBIs.

Freshman Dawson Hall picked up his fourth win of the season on the mound for WKU. Hall pitched five scoreless innings, allowing only three hits.

Both offenses struggled to start the game as neither scored through the first three innings. 

Farris began the scoring in the fourth with an RBI single.WKU responded by adding two more on two wild pitches to take a 3-0 lead. 

MTSU got on the board finally in the sixth with an RBI single, making it 3-1.

WKU quickly responded in the seventh with a run on an error and a two-RBI single by Farris to make the game 6-1.

The Blue Raiders chipped away at the lead with an RBI single in the seventh and a two-RBI double in the eighth, making the score 6-4. 

Senior Ricardo Leonett ended it in the ninth with a two-RBI double to give WKU an 8-4 victory. 

Game 3

WKU dropped game three of the series 8-6 on Sunday to the Blue Raiders, resulting in a series loss. 

Leonett led the Hilltoppers offense with three hits in the contest. Leonett also scored once and recorded an RBI.

Senior Devyn Terbrak pitched for WKU and put together a quality start. Terbrak went six innings and allowed three runs, only one of which was earned. 

Both teams were held scoreless until the third when WKU took a 1-0 lead on an RBI single. The Hilltoppers added two more runs in the fourth on an error to make the score 3-0. 

MTSU responded with an RBI single of its own in the fifth to cut the deficit to 3-1. 

The Hilltoppers answered with two runs of their own in the top of the sixth on a single to make it 5-1. 

The Blue Raiders quickly erased those two runs with two of their own on an error to make it 5-3 in the sixth.

Leonett added to the WKU lead in the seventh with a solo homer to make it 6-3. 

MTSU cut back into the deficit in the bottom of the seventh with an RBI single and a run scoring on a passed ball to make it 6-5.

The Blue Raiders proceeded to tie the game in the eighth on a passed ball and then take an 8-6 lead on a two-RBI single. The single ultimately gave the Blue Raiders an 8-6 victory. 

Up next, the Hilltoppers will head to Louisville, Kentucky to take on the no.8 Louisville Cardinals March 21 at 5 p.m. CST. 

Sports reporter Camden Bush can be reached at [email protected].