WKU Baseball welcomes the Indiana State Sycamores for a three-game series this weekend at Nick Denes Field.
The Hilltoppers sit at 7-7 after a 5-2 midweek loss to Cincinnati on Tuesday. WKU went 4-22 with four strikeouts in the final six innings.
Junior infielder Lane Arroyos extended his on-base streak to 14 after an RBI double. He is the only Hilltopper to reach base in every game in 2026. Arroyos is batting .365 with 15 RBI and 13 walks.
WKU had a strong starter outing from junior Greg Olsen in the Cincinnati game. He went five innings, giving up five hits and one run. However, the bullpen didn’t find the same success as four of the five relievers gave up a run.
The Hilltoppers will switch up their weekend rotation a bit against the Sycamores.
Graduate Gavin Perry will remain the game-one starter for the Hilltoppers. Perry has been the game one starter in every weekend series in 2026. The right-hander carries a 3.38 ERA with 13 strikeouts and six walks in 13.1 innings. In his last outing against Indiana University, Perry went five innings, allowing five hits and two walks with six strikeouts.
Senior Dawson Hall will get the ball game two, marking his first start since game three against Indiana University. Hall came out of the bullpen for his first two appearances in 2026, giving up a save opportunity in game one against BYU and tossing a save in game one against Southeast Missouri State. In his start against Indiana, Hall went three innings, allowing four hits and one run, and struck out one.
Redshirt sophomore Zach Serup will start his first game as a Hilltopper in game three. Serup has made five appearances in 2026, allowing five runs, four walks, and 12 strikeouts in 7.1 innings. His last outing came in the Cincinnati game, where he came in during the ninth inning, giving up a solo home run.
The Sycamores come into the weekend with a 6-6 record after they claimed the inaugural Atlantis Collegiate Baseball Series title over Penn State. Indiana State won 8-5 in game one, 2-1 in game two, and lost 9-8 in 11 innings in game three.
Junior infielder Caden Miller took home tournament MVP after putting up a .385 average with four RBI. Overall, Miller is batting .302 with 12 RBI and three walks in 2026.
Only sophomore catcher Jeremy Martinez has a higher batting average (.345) than Miller on the Sycamores. Martinez had a quiet weekend against Penn State, going 1-6 with one RBI. However, Martinez leads Indiana State in OPS (1.026) and slugging percentage (.552).
On the mound, Indiana State is led by sophomore Ty Brooks, who posts a 1.23 ERA with 16 strikeouts and three walks in 22 innings. In game one against Penn State, Brooks went seven innings, holding them to one run, three hits, one walk and striking out eight.
This will mark the tenth meeting between the Hilltoppers and the Sycamores, with WKU holding the edge over Indiana State 5-4-1. Their last meeting was on April 24, 1985, when they split a doubleheader. This series marks the first three-game series between the two teams.
Game one will start at 6 p.m., and the series will continue on Saturday at 4 p.m. The series will close out on Sunday, starting at 1 p.m.
