WKU Game Notes (PDF)
Game 13 Info: Video | Audio | Stats
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — For the second time in 15 days, WKU and Belmont will go head-to-head on the diamond, as the Hilltoppers travel to Nashville to face the Bruins on Tuesday, March 6. First pitch at E.S. Rose Park will be at 4 p.m.
WKU will be looking to get back in the win column after a tough week against Power Five competition. The Hilltoppers fell at No. 7 Kentucky, 4-3, on Tuesday, then lost three to visiting West Virginia over the weekend.
Midweek Preview
WKU has won 6-of-8 games against the Bruins dating back to midway through the 2014 season. But the overall series, with the teams' first matchup in 1954, stands as a 24-23 Belmont advantage.
It will be Evan Acosta making the start for WKU, coming off a gem in Lexington on Feb. 27. Against one of the toughest lineups in college baseball, the lefty spun six scoreless innings with three strikeouts. He allowed only three singles, walked two and hit three batters, but he kept the home team at bay for 94 pitches, 58 of them strikes.
For perspective, in Kentucky's past six games not against the Hilltoppers, opposing starting pitchers have lasted an average of 3.1 innings while allowing 6.5 runs. Through 12 games, Acosta is the only starter to complete six innings against the Wildcats, and only 1-of-2 to produce a scoreless outing (Kevin Hickey of USC Upstate;Â zero runs in five innings on Feb. 17).
Belmont's starter will be lefty Justin Fowlkes, who has thrown each of the team's midweek contests thus far. In two starts, Fowlkes stands 0-2 with a 2.70 ERA and a pair of tough-luck losses. Against WKU, he went five innings and allowed only two runs in the 4-1 defeat. The sophomore then went five innings with three runs (one earned) in a 3-0 loss vs. Southern Illinois on Feb. 27.
Feb. 20 Recap - WKU 4, Belmont 1
Faced with a 1-0 deficit in the top of the first inning, WKU bounced right back in the bottom half to even up the score against visiting Belmont, when Chase Larsen knocked home Dillon Nelson from third base with a single up the middle. From then on, a combination of eight relievers kept the Bruins off the board. Each Hilltopper pitcher got 2-to-4 out, while none faced more than five batters in his appearance.
Michael Martin posted his third scoreless appearance in the first four games and Michael Darrell-Hicks earned the win, shutting down Belmont in the top of the third inning before WKU broke the 1-1 tie. Larsen also knocked in that run, which would prove to be the game-winner, with an RBI ground out that scored Colin Butkiewicz.
With timely pitching and two more runs added on in the sixth, the Hilltoppers won their fourth-consecutive Home Opener at Nick Denes Field by a score of 4-1.
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