April 18, 2001
Lexington, Ky. - The Western Kentucky baseball team (25-16) scored five times in the ninth, but fell to the Kentucky Wildcats 9-5 on Wednesday.
The Wildcats (18-22) got on the board in the second inning against WKU starter John Bartsch (Sr., Auburn, Calif.). LF Seth Morris drew a one-out walk and moved to third on a single by DH Spencer Preston. After 3B Austin Madison was hit by a pitch, CF Beau Moore laid down a sacrifice bunt to score Morris. 2B Spencer Graeter then singled down the left field line, plating both Preston and Madison.
UK broke the game open with five runs in the sixth off WKU's Ryan Bicondoa (Jr., Lovelock, Nev.). Morris led off the inning by reaching on an error by SS Luis Rodriguez (Sr., Rio Piedra, Puerto Rico). Preston followed with a double to right and Moore brought home both runners with a one-out single to left. Graeter then singled to center and SS Vince Harrison hit his seventh home run of the year to left, giving Kentucky an 8-0 lead. The Wildcats added another run in the eighth as Morris hit the first pitch he saw from reliever Andy Baldwin (Fr., Campbellsville, Ky.) over the wall in left-center field to make it a 9-0 game.
Western finally got on the board in the ninth as Patrick Ransdell (Jr., Bowling Green, Ky.) singled to lead off the inning. Brian Polson (Jr., Louisville, Ky.) reached on an error and Matt Wilhite (So., Franklin, Ky.) walked to load the bases. Tim Cleland (Sr., Klamath Falls, Ore.) also drew a walk to force in Ransdell. With two outs, Matt Fox (Sr., Louisville, Ky.) doubled to the left-center field gap plating two runs and Brian Houdek (Sr., Dyer, Ind.) singled in two more runs to make it a 9-5 game. However, Joseph Blanton struck out Ransdell to end the game.
Bartsch (5-2) suffered the loss going 4.0 innings, allowing three runs on four hits. Fox led the Toppers with three hits. Western will open a five-game homestand Friday as the start a three-game Sun Belt Conference series with Arkansas-Little Rock at 6 p.m. (CDT).
- WKU -
