Powered by a four-run first and seventh inning, WKU Baseball propelled past the Louisville Cardinals 10-5 Tuesday night at Nick Denes Field.
The Hilltoppers improve to 14-11 overall and 13-7 at Nick Denes Field.
The Hilltoppers found success with runners on, a struggle they had against Jacksonville State last weekend. In Tuesday night’s game, WKU hit .379 with runners on, while against Jax State, they hit just .200 with runners on.
“We needed a positive release to get us back on track a little bit. We would have been fighting some real demons if we would have continued to struggle like we did this last weekend,” said Head Coach Marc Rardin.
Senior catcher Camden Ross and junior infielder JP Acosta led the team with three hits apiece.
“We all kind of came together as a team and a group and realized how great of players that we have here and the great coaching staff we have,” Acosta said.
WKU used seven pitchers in the night who combined for five earned runs on five hits, four walks and eight strikeouts. Junior right-hander Mick Uebelhor, freshman right-hander Kaine Samuels and graduate right-hander Connor Wolf all threw a team high of two innings.
The Hilltoppers got off to a quick start with their first six batters reaching base with five hits and a Louisville error, resulting in a 4-0 lead before the Cardinals could record an out. The Cardinals’ starter, sophomore right-hander Kian Vorster, was run out after allowing the bases to be loaded while recording two outs. However, those runners were left on base to end the inning.
The Hilltoppers ran into trouble in the fourth inning as their third reliever of the night, sophomore right-hander Jude Favela, couldn’t control his pitches. Favela pitched only two strikes of his total 14 pitches, and was taken out after allowing two runs off a sacrifice fly by sophomore Griffin Crain and a sac groundout by junior catcher Jimmy Nugent, cutting the WKU lead to 4-2.
Louisville found its answer in the fifth inning when sophomore left-hander Dominic Monaco was brought into the game. Junior outfielder Ben Slanker started the rally with an RBI double, and sophomore infielder Tague Davis hit his 14th home run of the season to tie the game 5-5.
WKU found the lead again in the sixth after loading the bases for Acosta. Acosta hit a ball to left fielder Crain, who dropped the ball and allowed Arroyos to score from third base. However, the Hilltoppers couldn’t take advantage of the runners as they left bases loaded to end the inning.
The Hilltoppers added four insurance runs in the seventh; the first two were brought in on a double by fifth-year infielder Kyle Hayes. Hayes would later score on a throwing error by Louisville catcher Nugent, who threw a ball past the infield, allowing Hayes to score from second base.
Coach Rardin used two freshmen in the game, utility player Ethan Reynolds, who did not travel with the team to Jax State and right-hander Samuels. Reynolds ended the night with one hit and two walks and Samuels collected the win with three strikeouts.
“I always call those kids my roots. Those guys are under the ground,” Rardin said. “They’re not seeing a lot, but they’re growing, and they’re really our future.”
WKU Baseball will return to conference play, traveling to Sam Houston March 27-29 for a three-game series. First pitch on Friday is set for 6:30 p.m.
