Feb. 23, 2001
Bowling Green, Ky. - The Western Kentucky baseball team improved to 4-5 on the season with a 20-5 win over Asbury College, Friday. The Hilltoppers pounded out 15 hits en route to the most runs by a Hilltopper team since a 21-3 win over Sue Bennett College in 1997.
LF Matt Fox (Sr., Louisville, Ky.) got things going early for Western as he led off the bottom of the first with a home run to rightceter, his first homer of the season. The Hilltoppers added two more runs on RBI groundouts by DH Jeff Pacholke (Jr., Prairrie DuSac, Wisc.) and 3B Tanner Townsend (Jr., London, Ky.) to take a 3-0 lead after one.
Asbury (0-2) answered with two unearned runs in the second off Hilltopper starter John Bartsch. CF Josh Tucker reached on a error, scoring RF Adam Cramer. 2B Chris Phillips then scored on a double steal to pull the Eagles within one, 3-2.
Western broke the game open in the fourth inning, sending 11 batters to the plate and scoring seven runs, all with two outs. The inning was capped by a grand slam by Pacholke, his first home run of the year, to take a 10-2 lead. Pacholke ended the day with a team-high six RBI.
The Hilltoppers added four runs in both the seventh and eighth innings. Nick Turner (Jr., Louisville, Ky.) added a three run home run in the eighth to end the scoring. It was Turner's team-high fourth home run of the season.
Fox led Western with three hits. Turner, 2B Patrick Ransdell (Jr., Bowling Green, Ky.) and C Ryan Cattell (Jr., Minnetonka, Minn.) collected two hits each. Turner also added five RBI. Bartsch picked up the win, improving to 1-1 on the season, pitching 4.0 innings, allowing five hits and two unearned runs while striking out five. Kevin Sadowski (Sr., Cresthill, Ill.) threw the next 3.0 innings, allowing three runs on three hits and striking out three Asbury hitters. Andy Baldwin (Fr., Campbellsville, Ky.) made his collegiate debut, throwing the final 2.0 innings, allowing no hits and recording one strikeout while facing only seven hitters.
The Hilltoppers return to action tomorrow as they open a two-game weekend series with Western Illinois. Saturday's game, originally scheduled for 1 p.m. (CST), has been changed to a noon start.
- WKU -
