November 27, 2018 marks 80 days until Opening Day for the 100th Season of WKU Hilltopper Baseball, and over the next 80 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 80 (November 27) |
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| The 1953 WKU Baseball club went 8-2-1 under the direction of coach E.A. Diddle, sweeping Tennessee Tech 2-0 in a best-of-three series to claim the Ohio Valley Championship for a second-straight season. After beginning the year with a 1-2 record, the Hilltoppers ended it on a 7-0-1 undefeated mark, and allowed only two runs in each of the final five contests. Hosting the championship series on The Hill, WKU defeated the Golden Eagles by scores of 4-3 and 3-1 to hoist the trophy on home turf. |
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| DAY 79 (November 28) |
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| Joel Murrie was the Hilltoppers' skipper for 26 years, compiling a 815-656-4 overall record. During his tenure, WKU won three Ohio Valley titles, two Sun Belt titles and a SBC Tournament championship in 2004. His 800th career win came on March 18, 2005 vs. Akron and he retired following that season with a program-record 815 victories under his belt. On March 8, 2015, his No. 36 became the second number to be retired in program history. |
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| DAY 78 (November 29) |
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| Outfielder Jim Bunnell was a four-year letterwinner for WKU from 1965-68. After earning All-Ohio Valley Conference honors in 1965, he repeated in 1966 after going 26-for-65 to hit the .400 plateau. Those two seasons, Bunnell led the Hilltoppers with 15 runs in 1965 and 20 in 1966, as well as 26 hits in 1965 and 24 in 1966. As a senior, Bunnell hit three homeruns in the 1968 campaign to pace the Hilltoppers. |
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| DAY 77 (November 30) |
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| A long-time coach and administrator, Jim Pickens was also a football and baseball student-athlete at WKU. This unique photo depicts Pickens as a dual-sport athlete, a defensive back on the gridiron and pitcher on the diamond. Following his career on The Hill, Pickens signed a baseball bonus contract with the Detroit Tigers in 1950. Later, he served as head coach of Hilltopper Baseball for 11 seasons, from 1966-76, compiling 180 total wins and an OVC West Division Championship in 1969. |
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| DAY 76 (December 1) |
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| Outfielder Matt Gunning went for the All-American Triple Crown in 2004, garnering honors from Baseball America, Collegiate Baseball and the American Baseball Coaches Association. He was also named 2004 Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year after slashing .375/.421/.663 with 99 total hits, which still stand as the third-most in a season season by a Hilltopper in program history. That season, he swatted a team-high 15 homeruns and 23 doubles, with 55 runs scored and 73 RBI. |
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| DAY 75 (December 2) |
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| The 1969 WKU Baseball club went 17-11 under the direction of coach Jim Pickens, including a 10-1 record in Ohio Valley Conference play to claim the West Division regular-season title. The 1969 season marked the 50th in program history, as well as the first in which Hilltopper home games were played at Nick Denes Field. Lefty Stan Markham, catcher John Vance and outfielder Harry Jones each earned All-OVC honors. |
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| DAY 74 (December 3) |
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| Chet Redmon, Eagle "Buddy" Keys and three unidentified players pose in different team uniforms during the latter-part of the 1940's. Redmon and Keys both lettered from 1946-48, giving the Hilltoppers one of their greatest 1-2 punches on the mound in their years together. The 1946 baseball club was a perfect 9-0, outscoring the opposition by an average of five runs per game. Keys was inducted into the WKU Athletic Hall of Fame in 1994; he was also a three-year letterman for the football team. |
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| DAY 73 (December 4) |
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| Lefty Grady Hinchman started 47 games during his time on The Hill from 2002-05. His best year as a Hilltopper was 2004, when he posted a 3.00 ERA and struck out 114 in 105 innings. The highlight of his career came at Ole Miss in the 2004 Oxford Regional, pitching a complete-game shutout against the Rebels to lead WKU to a 1-0 victory. Hinchman was signed as an undrafted free agent by the New York Mets following the 2005 season and pitched three seasons in the Minor Leagues. |
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| DAY 72 (December 5) |
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| Outfielder Chad Cregar poses with the 2009 Sun Belt Championship trophy at Riddle-Pace Field in Troy, Alabama. Cregar and the Hilltoppers won a share of the regular season league title with a 21-8 record. WKU's cleanup hitter for the majority of the season, the senior slashed .321/.430/.607 with 17 homeruns, 61 RBI, 65 runs scored and 21 stolen bases. After his stellar year, Cregar was selected by the Florida Marlins in the 15th round of the 2009 MLB Draft. |
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| DAY 71 (December 6) |
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| In 1973, catcher Jack Glasser accepted the inaugural WKU Athlete of the Year award from university president Dero Downing (center) and athletic director John Oldham (left). Glasser earned Hilltopper Baseball's first-ever All-American nod when he was honored by CoSIDA as a First Team Academic All-American that same year. He graduated cum laude from WKU's pre-med program as a biology major. |
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