"One of the things I am most proud of is our team's fight," head coach Amy Tudor opened. "We did a good job getting our bunts down to move the runners and after the first few innings were able to find ways to score them. We ran the bases well today, making good decisions and executed everything we worked on in practice this week."
The Cougars struck first on a two-run home run in the top of the third inning before WKU got its offense rolling at the plate. Rebekah Engelhardt led off the inning with a double off the left field fence before Jordan Thomas followed with a double to trade spots and plate Engelhardt for the first Hilltopper run. Five batters later with the bases loaded and two outs, Kendall Smith sent a single down the left field line to score a pair for a 3-2 WKU advantage. Tommi Stowers kept the scoring going with a two-RBI double to the left-center gap for the 5-2 lead.
SIUE retaliated in the top of the fourth, plating its final two runs of the game to pull within 5-4 before WKU could tally an out. Shelby Nunn relieved Kelsey Aikey in the circle at that point and struck out three of the next four batters to get WKU back to the dugout with its lead still intact.
"Kelsey Aikey started well and Shelby Nunn did a good job out of the bullpen in relief," Tudor continued. "Nunn is continuing to mature and develop in the circle during her freshmen season."
In the bottom of the fifth, Jordan Vorbrink sent her fourth double of the season to right-center field to lead off the frame before Paige Carter's third home run of the year pushed WKU's lead to 7-4.
Leading off an inning for the third time of the night, Engelhardt opened the bottom of the sixth with a double to right-center field before moving to third on a ground out. Maddie Bowlds reached on a fielder's choice that held Engelhardt at third after a run-down. Up next, Brittany Vaughn broke through for her first hit of the day in the form of a single through the right side, which scored both Hilltopper runners. Over the course of the next two batters, Vaughn stole her way around the diamond – including home – to account for WKU's 10th run of the contest.
In need of three outs to secure the victory, Nunn headed back out to the circle and sent the SIUE batters back to the dugout in order including a looking strikeout for the final out. Nunn tossed the final 4.0 innings to secure her 10th win of the season, moving to 10-4 overall. The freshman allowed just one hit while striking out six and retiring the final 11 Cougar batters of the game.
With the first of seven home mid-week non-conference tilts in the book, WKU is headed south for a five-game spring break trip. The Hilltoppers will open Conference USA play with a series at Southern Miss March 10-11 before dropping by Baton Rouge, La., and Mobile, Ala., for matchups with LSU and South Alabama.
TOPPER NOTES
- WKU's leadoff batter successfully reached base in 5-of-6 innings in the 10-4 win over SIUE. Three of those leadoff plate appearances resulted in a double. Rebekah Engelhardt went 2-for-3 in leadoff opportunities with two doubles. Jordan Thomas led the game off with a walk while Jordan Vorbrink got the fifth inning going with a double.
- The Hilltoppers scored double digits for the sixth time of the season, moving to 6-0 when scoring double figures.
- Trailing 3-0 in the middle of the third, WKU pieced together its third come-from-behind win of the season. Kendall Smith's two-RBI single was the go-ahead hit at the time but Tommi Stowers' two-RBI double was ultimately the difference.
- Paige Carter registered her third home run of the season in the bottom of the fifth inning in the form of a two-run shot. She now has five across her first two seasons on The Hill.
- Rebekah Engelhardt's multi-hit day marks the junior's fifth of the sort this season and the ninth of her career. Engelhardt also extended her reached-base streak to five-consecutive games.
- Four Hilltoppers registered multi-RBI games in the win including Brittany Vaughn (season 7th, career 30th), Paige Carter (8, 11), Kendall Smith (3) and Tommi Stowers (2, 3).
- Brittany Vaughn's three stolen bases are a new career high for the redshirt senior. All three came on the same trip around the diamond after a single. The last time a Hilltopper put up those numbers was in 2015 when Larissa Franklin swiped three bags against MTSU on May 3. As a team, WKU stole five bases for the second time this season.
- WKU registered five doubles in the win marking the second time this season with numbers of such. The Hilltoppers have recorded a double in 18-of-21 games this season and own multiple two-basers in 12 of those contests.
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