"It was a long day for the entire team, but I was proud of our focus and response when we were behind in game one and ahead in the second game," head coach Amy Tudor opened. "We are continuing to produce offense from top to bottom of our lineup and keep making huge defensive stops. Speaking of defense, Kelsey Aikey and Shelby Nunn held down the circle both in starting and relief situations today. It's beneficial for them to gain experience in different scenarios early in the year to prepare for conference play."
In 15 weekend at bats, Paige Carter recorded eight hits – five for extra bases – 10 RBI and 16 total bases while earning a pair of walks. The sophomore started all five games en route to a .533 batting average, 1.067 slugging percentage and .588 on-base percentage.
As a staff, the WKU pitchers combined for a 1.81 ERA, three complete games and two saves in 31.0 innings pitched across the weekend.
GAME 14: WKU 6, GREEN BAY 5
Despite a slow start that saw the Hilltoppers fall behind 3-0 early on to Green Bay, WKU used a five-run fourth inning to pick up its second come-from-behind win of the season. Eleven Hilltoppers made plate appearances in the bottom of the productive fourth frame.
Brittany Vaughn accounted for two of the appearances, waiting out walks both times including as the leadoff. A Kendall Smith double moved Vaughn into third base before Rebekah Engelhardt sent a sacrifice fly to right field for the first Hilltopper run of the contest. After what was intended to be a sacrifice bunt by Morgan McElroy, two runs crossed the plate as McElroy advanced all the way to third. Still not done, Jordan Vorbrink stepped into the box and send an RBI single out to left field to score McElroy for the 4-0 advantage. Carter would ultimately drive Vorbrink in for the fifth run of the inning on a fielder's choice.
Kelsey McGuffin opened the bottom of the fifth with her third walk of the game before taking second on an Engelhardt bunt single and third on a Green Bay throwing error. With two teammates in scoring position, Vorbrink picked up her second RBI of the game in the form of a groundout to the second baseman that allowed McGuffin to cross the plate.
Green Bay would eventually score two more runs in the top of the sixth inning to pull within one at 6-5 before the Hilltoppers got back to the dugout.
Haylee Towers got the nod in the circle and went 3.0 innings before Shelby Nunn (7-3) came in for 3.0 innings of relief and the win. Kelsey Aikey closed things out with a 14-pitch save in the seventh, recording a pair of strikeouts while facing the minimum.
GAME 15: WKU 6, INDIANA STATE 2
WKU wasted no time building its lead in the day's second game as eight Hilltoppers made plate appearances the first trip to the box to take a 4-0 lead. Carter got on board with a two-out infield single and stole second before Vaughn stepped into the box and launched her team-leading fourth home run of the season. Smith kept the frame alive with a single before a McGuffin walk moved her into scoring position. With a 1-1 count, Engelhardt sent a double to the left-center gap to score both Hilltoppers on base to double the WKU lead.
In the bottom of the second frame, the Red and White added another tally after Jordan Thomas doubled off the left-field wall and Carter – with her second hit of the day – brought her home.
Indiana State broke into the scoring column in the top of the third after opening the inning with back-to-back hits but the Hilltoppers responded in the bottom half of the frame with a run of their own for the final 6-2 score. Carter accounted for the RBI after sending her third hit of the game – second double – to right field to plate Vorbrink who led off with a single.
After the Sycamores registered a hit in the first at bat of the game, Aikey and company sat the next six batters down in order. Aikey (3-1) worked 4.0 innings en route to her third win of the season, finishing with three strikeouts while allowing just one earned run. Nunn tossed the final 3.0 innings to earn her first collegiate save while allowing just two hit and no runs.
Carter's three-hit performance was her third of the sort this season as the sophomore now has seven total multi-hit games on her sophomore campaign. Additionally, she has now reached base safely in each of her last 13 games.
Vorbrink's fourth-inning single also marked the junior's team-best sixth-straight game with a hit – extending her reached base streak to nine games.
UP NEXT
With the Hilltopper Classic in the books, the Red and White will now gear up to host another weekend outing with the Holiday Inn Hilltopper Spring Fling on the slate. Austin Peay, Dayton and Evansville are scheduled to come to town for the three-day affair.
TOPPER NOTES:
- Kelsey Aikey notched the third save of her career against Green Bay this morning, the first for any Hilltopper in the 2018 season. She entered the game in the top of the seventh inning and faced the 2-3-4 batters from Green Bay. Aikey opened with a KL before a pop up to first base for the second out. The sophomore finished the game with three-straight strikes - looking, swinging, looking – to lock up the save. In the day's second game, Aikey would go on to get the win while Shelby Nunn locked up the Hilltoppers' second save of the year.
- Kendall Smith contributed multiple hits against Green Bay for her fifth multi-hit game of the season. WKU now has 26 collective multi-hit efforts on the year. Jordan Vorbrink and Morgan McElroy added two RBI apiece while each recording their third multi-RBI game of the year.
- Paige Carter recorded three hits and a pair of RBI in Sunday's win over Indiana State. The sophomore now has seven multi-hit games along with seven multi-RBI performances this year – both lead the team. Carter has racked up 21 RBI through 14 games played.
- WKU's win over Green Bay marks the Hilltoppers' second come-from-behind win of the season. The first came last weekend when the Red and White defeated Chattanooga 7-2 after trailing 2-0 at the end of the third inning. Today, Green Bay was able to score two before the Hilltoppers got on the board, but WKU racked up five runs in the fourth inning and one in the fifth to secure the victory.
- Brittany Vaughn now has four home runs on the season – 13 as a Hilltopper – and 17 on her career.
- WKU Softball is now 2-1 all-time against the Green Bay Phoenix. The Hilltoppers have now claimed five-straight wins over Indiana State dating back to the 2012 campaign and are now 8-1 against the Sycamores all time.
- An 11-4 start in the team's first 15 games marks the best start to a season under head coach Amy Tudor. The program has had three starts of 12-3 (2004, 2009, 2012) and one of 11-4 (2011) in its history. All four of those teams went on to have 30+ win seasons.
How to Follow the Hilltoppers: For complete information on WKU Softball, follow the team on Twitter at @WKUSoftball, Instagram @WKU_Softball and Facebook /WKUSoftball.
