February 20, 2000
Bowling Green, Ky. - The Hilltopper Baseball team improved their record to 2-3 Sunday, defeating Saint Louis in both halves of a double header. The double header was the home opener for Western, who handed the Billikens their first two losses of the season.
In the first game, junior RHP Ryan Hutchison (Vincennes, Ind.) led the Hilltoppers to a 12-2 win by just giving up four hits in five innings and not allowing any earned runs. Western provided offense early for Hutchison, scoring five runs in the second. The inning was highlighted by a triple by junior 1B Eric Hammer (Omaha, Neb.) that knocked in two runs.
Hammer came up big in both the fourth and sixth innings for the Hilltoppers, and wound up with five RBI in the game on a 3-for-3 performance. Junior 2B Brian Houdek (Dyer, Ind.) and Senior DH Curtis Bliss (Lutz, Fla.) also had three hits apiece.
St. Louis senior Ryan Warnecke gave up five runs in two innings for the loss. The Billiken pitching staff only gave up six earned runs in the game.
In the second game, the Hilltoppers were down early when Billiken senior 2B Nick Steiner hit a three-run homer in the top of the second to cap off a four-run inning. The Hilltoppers came back in the bottom of the eighth to score six runs and eventually move past Saint Louis 7-4.
Junior RHP Brandon Miller(Muncie, Ind.) picked up the win in relief for the Hilltoppers, allowing just one hit and striking out six in 7.1 innings. Houdek led the offense with a 3-for-5 effort at the plate that included two RBI. Junior DH Justin Herrguth (Santa Rosa, Calif.) also had three hits in the win. Junior RHP Wes Jailet took the loss for the Billikens are now 0-2.
WKU now prepares to play on the road at Belmont Tuesday at 2 p.m. and at Louisville on Wednesday at 2 p.m., before coming home to host Purdue and Ohio next weekend.
