WKU Baseball took two of three games against Dallas Baptist this weekend at Nick Denes Field.
The Hilltoppers improve to 28-24 and 13-14 in Conference USA play. WKU is now in sole possession of sixth place, as they came into the weekend tied with Kennesaw State.
Sophomore infielder Reid Howard led the team on the weekend, going 6-15 and scoring six times.
Bullpen piece junior right-hander Mick Uebelhor was pivotal for WKU over the weekend. Uebelhor pitched in game one and three, throwing three innings, keeping the Patriots to zero hits, one walk, and three strikeouts. The right-hander earned the win in game one and the save in game three.
“He helped us on Friday and he helped us today (Sunday),” said Head Coach Marc Rardin.
Game One
Senior outfielder Daniel Stewart hit a three-run home run to walk off the game and give WKU a 7-4 win in the series opener.
The Hilltoppers opened the scoring in the second frame with an RBI double by graduate outfielder Cael Frost and a sacrifice groundout by junior infielder JP Acosta.
However, the Patriots wasted no time taking the lead, putting up a four-run third inning. The inning was junior right-hander Greg Olsen’s last inning as he gave up a two-run home run to fifth-year infielder Chayton Krauss and an RBI single to redshirt sophomore outfielder Dylan Schlaegel.
The Hilltopper bullpen silenced the DBU bats after the third, with senior right-hander Dawson Hall going 4.2 innings, holding the Patriots to one hit and four walks while striking out three. Graduate right-hander Sam Frizzi relieved Hall in the eighth, with the bases loaded. Frizzi forced a groundout to get out of the jam.
Uebelhor earned the win as he came in for the ninth inning. Uebelhor put up a 1-2-3 inning to give the Hilltoppers an opportunity to break the deadlock with a walk-off.
Sophomore infielder Reid Howard hit a leadoff single to start the ninth, the next two Hilltopper bats lined out and flew out, backing up WKU to their final outs before extra innings. A five pitch walk to junior infielder Lane Arroyos brought up Stewart, and on a first pitch fastball hit a ball 427 feet for the win.
The two teams were almost identical at the plate, with WKU hitting 5-17 with runners on and DBU going 5-15.
Game Two
DBU responded to the walk-off loss with a 5-3 win over WKU on Saturday.
Freshman utility Ethan Reynolds got the start in right field and put the Hilltoppers on the board with an RBI single in the second inning. Arroyos put WKU up by two with an RBI double in the third inning.
The Patriots tied the game in the fifth with a sac groundout by junior infielder Dylan Cupp and an RBI double by redshirt freshman outfielder Brooks Sartain. DBU followed with a three-run sixth inning to take the lead. Krauss hit a leadoff home run, and Cupp hit an RBI single. Schlaegel stole home to give the Patriots a 5-2 lead.
The Hilltoppers found no success against the Patriots’ bullpen, as they collected just one hit and one walk in the 3.2 innings the bullpen was used for. WKU left eight runners on base as they went 3-15 with runners on and 3-13 with two outs.
Sophomore right-hander Athan Kroll earned the save as he put down the Hilltoppers in order in the ninth.
WKU’s starter, graduate Gavin Perry, gave up five runs on 10 hits in his 5.2 innings of work. Those five runs are the most he has given up since his start on March 20 against Jacksonville State.
Game Three
WKU took the rubber match 11-8 on Sunday afternoon.
Following the trend of the series, the Hilltoppers once again opened the scoring, this time with a three-run first inning. Senior infielder Austin Haller and Howard opened the inning with back-to-back singles. The two were then brought home as Frost hit a homer to right field.
After the Hilltoppers extended their lead to four in the second inning, DBU erased it and took the lead in the third with a five-run frame. A leadoff walk by junior infielder Cooper Nevil forced starter sophomore Dominic Monaco out of the game and brought in junior right-hander Jude Favela. Back-to-back RBI singles set up a three-run home run by junior utility Ben Tryon.
However, the Hilltoppers responded immediately with three runs of their own with back-to-back RBI singles by Acosta and graduate outfielder Parker Coley. WKU extended that lead to 9-7 in the sixth with a two-run home run by Haller.
Junior left-hander Zach Lyles relieved Favela and held the Patriots to one run on two hits and one walk in his season-high 3.2 innings of work.
“Lately, he’s been beating himself up. There’s no one who cares more than him,” said Rardin.
Usual game one starter, graduate left-hander Aaron Robertson, took the mound in the seventh inning, where reigning CUSA Player of the Week senior outfielder Jake Bennett hit a two-run home run to cut WKU’s lead to 9-8.
The back-and-forth blows were minimized as Uehelhor came out for the second time in the series. WKU did not stop, though, putting up two more runs in the eighth. Senior catcher Camden Ross hit an RBI single, and Frost followed with an RBI triple, extending the lead to 11-8.
Uebelhor gave up a leadoff walk but erased the runner with a double play ball. Uebelhor ended the game with three strikeouts and one walk.
“It got away from us in that (third) inning, but I thought the tremendous thing was the response right away in getting three back,” said Rardin. “I thought that was a lot of the game other than Zach Lyles going those three innings.”
WKU Baseball will return to action for its final CUSA series as they travel to Delaware May 14-16.
