"We were very successful in getting runners on base in our second game today but missed opportunities to score those runners, thankfully Kelsey Aikey had a very special and impressive night," head coach Amy Tudor shared. "I'm really proud of her; eight innings with zero hits is always a good night and fun to watch. Aikey competed every pitch – as did the defense behind her - and this achievement is well deserved."
"During the seventh and eighth innings especially, I was confident our hitters could break through and get us on the board," Kelsey Aikey stated. "I stayed confident in myself and my pitches knowing my defense and catcher were in it doing everything they could too. It does mean a lot to join former Hilltoppers like Miranda Kramer who have thrown no-hitters, especially since we haven't had one since she was here in 2015. I didn't know Miranda very well but I definitely looked up to her."
The Hilltoppers are now 4-2 on the young season. On Friday, the WKU squad is scheduled to take on Tennessee State at noon CT, followed by another round with Tennessee Tech right away.
GAME 5: TENNESSEE TECH 9, WKU 5
After falling behind 7-0 by the bottom of the fourth inning to Tennessee Tech, the WKU offense was finally able to break through with a four-run fifth inning. The Hilltoppers saw Morgan McElroy, Maddie Bowlds and Paige Carter notch hits in the frame while Rebekah Engelhardt reached on an error and Kelsey McGuffin drew a walk as the Red and White cut the score to 7-4.
Tennessee Tech responded with two more runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to put the contest out of reach for the Red and White. Jordan Thomas drew a one-out walk in the top of the seventh frame and ultimately came around to score the game's final run on Carter's second hit of the contest.
Shelby Nunn got the nod in the circle and took the decision after 2.1 innings of work and six earned runs allowed. The freshman registered one strikeout against no walks. Haylee Towers tossed 3.0 innings in relief with three strikeouts while allowing Tennessee Tech's last three runs before Kelsey Aikey worked 0.2 innings to close the game.
"In today's first game, we were able to generate offense but Tennessee Tech just produced more," Tudor said. "While it's not enjoyable to be behind in a game, I was happy to see us respond and continue to fight, unfortunately the deficit was just too large to overcome."
GAME 6: WKU 1, SACRED HEART 0 (8)
Kelsey Aikey carried her first collegiate no-hitter through eight innings behind a career-high seven strikeouts to help WKU Softball to a 1-0 extra-inning win over Sacred Heart in Thursday's second game. Aikey gave up one hit by pitch and a fielder's choice while WKU committed an error in an exceptional 85-pitch outing. The win is the sophomore's first decision of the 2018 campaign as she needed just 85 pitches for the eight-inning victory.
After Aikey and the Hilltopper defense held the Sacred Heart go-ahead run at third base with the international-tiebreaker rule in place, the Red and White headed to the plate to finish things up. Morgan McElroy began on second base in the bottom of the eighth for WKU and with one away, freshman Jordan Thomas stepped up and with a 1-2 count sent a standing double to the wall in left-center field to plate McElroy for the walk-off win.
"Jordan Thomas, just like Aikey, was clutch," Tudor shared. "Thomas looked confident at the plate and picked a good pitch and put a great swing on it."
WKU stranded 14 runners on base in the contest while Thomas' game-ending double was the lone extra-base knock of the game.
TOPPER NOTES:
- Game one saw Paige Carter record a single and a double for her second multi-hit game of the season and the fifth of her career.
- Sophomore Kelsey Aikey threw an eight-inning no-hitter in game two – the first of her career and 12th in program history. Aikey is the first Hilltopper to record an extra-inning no-hitter and is the ninth different hurler to record a no-no. Miranda Kramer was the last Hilltopper to toss a clean slate in a perfect game on May 7, 2015.
- WKU has won two games in walk-off fashion this season: first vs. Hampton in a 10-2 (6) run-rule decision and second vs. Sacred Heart 1-0 (8).
- In Thursday's second game, Kelsey McGuffin recorded her third multi-hit effort of the season and 14th of her career.
- WKU Softball has used a different starting lineup in all six of its games this season.
