April 7, 2001
Mobile, Ala. - Western Kentucky survived a late charge by South Alabama to pull out an 11-10 win over the 13th-ranked Jaguars in 10 innings.
The Hilltoppers (21-14, 6-5 SBC) stuck first with three runs in the first inning. After Jaguar starter Casey Almond retired the first two hitters, 1B D.J. Johnson (So., Hudson, Ky.) dropped a single into left field and moved to a second on a balk. RF Nick Turner (Jr., Louisville, Ky.) was hit by a pitch and catcher Ryan Cattell (Jr., Minnetonka, Minn.) followed with his ninth home run of the season to left-center field to give WKU an early 3-0 lead.
South Alabama (27-7, 7-4 SBC) responded with two runs in the bottom of the first as CF Camron Likely led off the inning with a single to right and RF Erik Smallwood reached on a fielding error by 2B Brian Houdek (Sr., Dyer, Ind.). SS Tim Merritt then hit a ground ball to 3B Tanner Townsend (Jr., London, Ky.) who forced out Likely, but threw the ball away at first allowing Smallwood to score. 1B Nick Gretz followed with a single to right to score Merritt and make it a 3-2 WKU lead after one.
USA took the lead with three runs in the third inning. Smallwood led off the inning with a walk and after stealing second moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Merritt. Gretz then grounded out to first, plating Smallwood to tie the game 3-3. 2B Soctt Calahan and catcher Warren Hanna followed with back-to-back doubles and DH Tony Piccotti singled in a run to center to give the Jaguars a 5-3 lead.
Western responded to tie the game in the fourth scoring twice without getting a hit. DH Jeff Pacholke (Jr., Prairrie DuSac, Wisc.) reached on catcher's interference to lead off the frame, and moved to second when Townsend drew a walk. Both runners moved up on a sacrifice bunt by SS Luis Rodriguez (Sr., Rio Piedra, Puerto Rico). Almond then threw a wild pitch allowing Pacholke to score. Jason Glasscock relieved Almond and after recording a strikeout, threw a wild pitch of his own, allowing Townsend to score and tie the game 5-5.
The Jaguars retook the lead in the bottom of the fourth as Likely led off with a double down the left field line and moved to third on a single by Smallwood. Merritt then plated Likely with an RBI groundout to give the Jags a 6-5 lead. Gretz followed with a home run to right center to put USA back on top by three, 8-5. Western got two runs back in the fifth as Johnson led off the inning with a single to center. After Glasscock retired the next two hitters, Pacholke doubled to left-center field plating Johnson. Townsend followed with a walk and Rodriguez reached on an error by Josh Touchstone at third that allowed Pacholke to score and make it an 8-7 game.
South Alabama threatened in the bottom of the fifth as they loaded the bases with no outs against WKU reliever Andy Baldwin (Fr., Campbellsville, Ky.). However, Baldwin got Likely to ground into a fielder's choice that got Piccotti forced out at home. He then struck out Smallwood and Merritt to leave the bases loaded and keep it a one-run game. The Toppers retook the lead in the sixth with three runs off USA reliever Sam Smith. Houdek, Johnson and Turner got three straight one-out singles, with Turner's plating Houdek. Cattell then lifted a ball to right that was dropped by Smallwood allowing Johnson to score. Pacholke followed with an RBI groundout, driving in Turner to give Western a 10-8 lead.
The lead held until the bottom of the ninth as Baldwin retired the first two batters then hit pinch hitter LF Brantly Griffin to prolong the inning. Kyle Stanky then followed with a pinch-hit home run to left to tie the game 10-10. Mike Belch (Sr., Las Vegas, Nev.) entered the game and got Smallwood to pop up to Cattell to send the game to extra innings.
Western got a run in the top of the tenth as Houdek led off the inning with a single to right. After moving to second on a sacrifice bunt by Johnson, David Lower (So., Alexandria, Ind.) moved Houdek to third with a groundout and Cattell singled to right, plating Houdek and putting Western up 11-10. The Jaguars threatened in the bottom of the tenth as Calahan hit a two-out triple, but Belch got Hanna to ground out to Rodriguez to end the game.
Belch picked up his first win of the seaon throwing the final 1.1 innings. Houdek led the offense with four hits.
WKU and South Alabama will conclude the series tomorrow a 1 p.m (CDT).
-- WKU --
