January 16, 2019 marks 30 days until Opening Day for the 100th Season of WKU Hilltopper Baseball, and over the next 30 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 30 (January 16) |
 |
| Bowling Green native T.J. Freeman came to The Hill as a two-way player, but began to shine once he made the switch to full-time first baseman. In his junior and senior seasons, Freeman was a menace to opposing pitchers, slashing .379/.442/.632 in 1998 and .336/.418/.692 in 1999, with 38 doubles and 26 homeruns combined in 105 starts. After earning First Team All-SBC honors in 1998, he was named Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year in 1999, WKU's third overall but first since 1993. |
|
|
| DAY 29 (January 17) |
 |
| Another first baseman on the All-Century Team ballot, Paul Knuth played on the 1981 and 1982 WKU clubs, which combined for a two-year record of 78-28 with a pair of regular-season Ohio Valley Conference Division titles. In 1981, the Michigan native ranked ninth in the nation with 19 homeruns, a single-season mark that still stands ninth in Hilltopper history. Knuth also posted a .359 batting average with eight doubles, 53 runs scored and 63 RBI in his junior season. |
|
|
| DAY 28 (January 18) |
 |
| Reliever Matt Wilhite made 110 appearances from 2000-03, the most by any Hilltopper pitcher in program history. In the 2003 season, Wilhite posted an 8-2 record in 37 appearances with a 1.78 ERA and 11 saves. He allowed only 49 hits and 15 earned runs with 64 strikeouts in 74 innings, becoming the first reliever in SBC history to be named Pitcher of the Year; he also earned NCBWA All-American honors. In the fall of 2018, Wilhite was inducted into the WKU Athletic Hall of Fame. |
|
|
| DAY 27 (January 19) |
 |
| After three stellar seasons for the Hilltoppers, infielder Mike Murray saved his best for last. In 1980, Murray was the team captain of the club that went a program-record 47-13-1 and made an NCAA Regional appearance after winning the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament (pictured above, holding the trophy). He earned 1980 OVC Player of the Year honors after leading WKU with 71 runs scored, 92 hits and 20 doubles. In addition, Murray's 79 career stolen bases are the most in program history. |
|
|
| DAY 26 (January 20) |
 |
| Along with the likes of Rich "Goose" Gossage and Dave Parker, WKU two-way player Don Durham was selected in the 1970 MLB Draft. Two years later, he made his MLB debut against Cincinnati's "Big Red Machine." That year, he started eight games and posted a 4.34 ERA with 35 strikeouts in 48 innings; Durham won two games, both against the San Francisco Giants. For the Hilltoppers in the spring of 1970, Durham hit .418 with six triples, while throwing eight complete games on the mound. |
|
|
| DAY 25 (January 21) |
 |
| In 2002, righty Ryan Bicondoa put together perhaps the greatest single season by a pitcher in WKU history. Bicondoa posted a 2.56 ERA and set program standards with 150 strikeouts in 123 innings, while tying a Hilltopper record with 11 victories. He earned ABCA All-American status, as well as Sun Belt Conference Pitcher of the Year honors. After his final appearance (a 12-strikeout, complete-game, 2-1 victory over Louisiana-Lafayette) Bicondoa signed as a free agent with the New York Yankees. |
|
|
| DAY 24 (January 22) |
 |
| 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. Of the Hilltoppers on that team, Don Durham (first row, far left), Stan Markham (first row, middle with glasses), Harry Jones (first row, far right) and Johnny Vance (second row, tallest in middle) all appear on the WKU Baseball All-Century Team ballot. |
|
|
| DAY 23 (January 23) |
 |
| The 1985 WKU Baseball club boasted the most prolific offense in Hilltopper history. The team went 43-20 under the direction of coach Joel Murrie, including a 14-4 record in Sun Belt Conference play to claim the West Division regular-season title. The Hilltoppers totaled a program-record 114 homeruns, 1,163 total bases and 345 walks. As a TEAM, WKU slashed .321/.437/.554 that season in 2,099 at-bats. For comparison, Stan Musial's lifetime slash line in the Major Leagues was .331/.417/.559. |
|
|
| DAY 22 (January 24) |
 |
| Head coach Joel Murrie stands in front of the 1980 Hilltoppers with the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament trophy sitting next to him on the Nick Denes Field grass. WKU lost its first game of the tournament on its home turf, but rebounded to win the next four contests, including an 11-8 victory over Murray State in the title game, to claim the crown. In Murrie's first year as WKU's skipper, the Hilltoppers went a program-record 47-13-1, including a 2-2 mark in the Tallahassee Regional. |
|
|
| DAY 21 (January 25) |
 |
| A young man serving as a commentator or public address announcer, believed to be WKU student Greg Kuhl, sits in the dugout while keeping the game's scorebook during the 1975 season. Kuhl was a writer for the College Heights Herald, publishing multiple articles on the Hilltoppers during the mid-1970's. Although WKU went 7-20 in the spring of 1975 (after going 14-6 in the fall of 1974 for a 21-26 overall record), the team featured All-Century Team candidates Paul Orberson and Terry Tedder. |
|
|
