November 17, 2018 marks 90 days until Opening Day for the 100th Season of WKU Hilltopper Baseball, and over the next 90 days, WKU Athletics will treat fans to unique moments and interesting history from Hilltopper Baseball, all leading up to First Pitch at Nick Denes Field on February 15, 2019.
| DAY 90 (November 17) |
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| In honor of last week's National Signing Day, here is former WKU lefty Stan Markham signing his grant-in-aid. Markham played for head coach Jim Pickens (center) at Bowling Green High School, and that would continue as Pickens was hired as the Hilltopper Baseball skipper prior to the 1966 season. Markham capped his Purple career by throwing a no-hitter in the 1965 KHSAA Championship. With his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Paul Markham, this photo appeared in the Bowling Green Daily News. |
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| DAY 89 (November 18) |
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| Righty Jim Weaver had the most storied professional career in WKU Baseball history. From Obion County, Tenn., the 6-foot, 6-inch Weaver was known as "Big Jim" or "Big Ick" to his teammates. Signed by the Washington Senators in 1928, Weaver enjoyed an eight-year MLB career with six different teams. In 1935 with the Pittsburgh Pirates, he led the league with four shutouts. By the time he pitched his final game in 1939, Weaver had complied a 57-36 record and 3.88 ERA across 893 innings. |
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| DAY 88 (November 19) |
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| Earning the starting catching job as a senior in 2017, Hunter Wood was named WKU's fourth-ever Johnny Bench Award Semifinalist. He led WKU with a .313/.386/.523 slash line, starting 50 games behind the plate while catching 89 percent (432-of-485) of the team's total defensive innings. Defensively, Wood threw out 21-of-59 potential base stealers. He ranked in the top 10 in the nation with those 21 runners caught stealing, while his overall rate of 36 percent was second in Conference USA. |
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| DAY 87 (November 20) |
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| The 1952 WKU Baseball club went 11-3 under the direction of coach E.A. Diddle, and defeated Eastern Kentucky 2-1 in a best-of-three series to claim the Ohio Valley Championship. In Richmond, Ky., after losing Game 1 by a score of 4-3, the Hilltoppers rallied to win the next two games by scores of 1-0 and 9-4. It was the first-ever conference title for the program, having joined the league in 1948. |
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| DAY 86 (November 21) |
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| From left to right, Hilltoppers Greg Bartek, Rusty Clark, Rusty Sebastian, Rich Hargis, Larry Shikles, Eddie Jent and Mike Ballenger sit in the right-field bullpen facing the formerly one-sided Houchens-Smith Stadium during a 1984 game at Nick Denes Field. On April 11, WKU defeated Austin Peay by a score of 13-9. In the program's second season in the Sun Belt, WKU posted a 23-29-2 record. Jent led the Hilltoppers with 25 pitching appearances, four wins and a 2.43 ERA. |
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| DAY 85 (November 22) |
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| Going into his first season as head coach in 1977, Barry Shollenberger chose (left to right) Gary Larimore, Terry Tedder and Wally Moss to represent at team captains. In his career on The Hill, Tedder earned All-Ohio Valley Team honors in 1976, 1977 and 1978; setting program records with seven homeruns and 41 runs batted in in 1977. Although the Hilltoppers went 20-23-1 in 1977, they laid the foundation for future clubs that would win four of the next five OVC titles from 1978-82. |
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| DAY 84 (November 23) |
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| The 1980 WKU Baseball club, led by first-year head coach Joel Murrie, went 47-13-1 overall and 17-3 in Ohio Valley to claim the league title. The 47 wins remain a program record to this day, and were the OVC high mark until Tennessee Tech's 53 victories in 2018. Advancing to play in the NCAA Regional at Tallahassee, the Hilltoppers defeated Vanderbilt (15-4) and New Orleans (4-3), but fell twice to host Florida State, including a 10-5 loss in the fifth and deciding game. |
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| DAY 83 (November 24) |
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| The 1926 WKU Baseball team photo features head coach E.A. Diddle's pet Irish Setter, Rex, on the left side of the lineup ... "One of Western's first unofficial mascots," WKU's Lynn Niedermeier shared the story of Rex in her work, 'The Dogs of Western.' "Rex could often be seen trotting across the grass (an activity then forbidden to people), circulating among classrooms, presiding on the sidelines at football and basketball games, and positioning himself prominently in athletic team photographs." |
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| DAY 82 (November 25) |
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| The 1927 WKU Baseball club poses for a team photo on the steps of Van Meter Hall. The first building constructed on WKU's campus in 1911, it was made to resemble the Acropolis' Erectheion Temple and named for Captain Charles J. Van Meter, a local riverboat captain and developer. It housed the office of the first president of WKU, Dr. Henry Hardin Cherry, and was one of the largest buildings between Nashville and Louisville when first completed. |
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| DAY 81 (November 26) |
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| Catcher Matt Rice slashed a career-high .405/.455/.603 during the 2009 season. That year, he had 72 RBI, 51 runs scored, 10 homeruns 18 doubles and smacked a single-season record 102 hits, leading WKU to within one game of the program's first-ever Super Regional appearance. In the 2009 Oxford Regional, Rice led the Hilltoppers with a .458 batting average (11-for-24) while playing errorless baseball behind the plate. For his performance, he was named to the All-NCAA Regional Team. |
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