April 18, 2002
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - After falling behind, 2-0, after one inning of play, the Western Kentucky baseball team settled down and handed Brescia an 8-4 setback Thursday at Nick Denes Field. The Hilltoppers (27-10) claim their second-straight, while the Bearcats fall to 20-23 on the season.
Brescia scored two runs in the top of the first, loading the bases when Todd Weaver was hit by Hilltopper starter Brooks Sketo (Fr., Sheperdsville, Ky.), and Justin Jones and Matt Boutcher drew consecutive walks. Jimmy Shoulders stepped up and scored Weaver with a sacrifice fly to left, and Brad Rundall followed with an RBI single to right to give the Bearcats the early 2-0 advantage.
After a scoreless second, WKU answered with a three-spot in the bottom of the third when Brian Polson (Sr., Louisville, Ky.) and Jerry Cecil (Sr., Louisville, Ky.) crossed home plate after Rafael Vallejo (Fr., The Bronx, N.Y.) reached on a fielder's choice and Bearcat C Brad Keown dropped the pick-off attempt at home. Tanner Townsend (Sr., London, Ky.) stepped up and scored Vallejo with a double to right-center to give the Hilltoppers their first lead, 3-2.
In the top of the fourth, the Bearcats regained the lead, plating two runs highlighted by an RBI single by Don Hamilton, and an RBI flyout by Weaver to make it a 4-3 ballgame.
WKU responded in the bottom of the sixth when Antone Towns (Fr., Louisville, Ky.) led-off with a double, and Jeff Pacholke (Sr., Prairie DuSac, Wis.) launched a home run to left-center, his second on the year, regaining the lead for the Toppers, 5-4. Two batters later, Patrick Ransdell (Sr., Bowling Green, Ky.) added to the cause with a walk, and Vallejo made increased the lead to two with an RBI single through the left side of the Bearcat defense, plating Ransdell to make it a 6-4 contest heading into the final three innings.
In the bottom of the seventh, WKU padded its lead when Kenneth Yaeger (So., Bowling Green, Ky.) ripped a pinch-hit double up the middle, after Pacholke singled and Travis Brown (Jr., Kankakee, Ill.) walked to make it a 8-4 Hilltopper advantage.
J.C. Faircloth (Fr., Jacksonville, Fla.) spelled Sketo in the top of the first, tossing 7.0 innings while allowing two runs on six hits with four strikeouts to improve to 5-1 on the year. Kenny Hughes (Jr., Indianapolis, Ind.) and Matt Wilhite (Jr., Franklin, Ky.) each pitched an inning of scoreless relief to preserve the victory.
Brescia used three pitchers to give up a combined eight hits, with Kyle Freels earning the loss to fall to 2-3 on the season.
The Hilltoppers will take the weekend off before heading to Lipscomb for a 2 p.m. (CDT) clash Tuesday (April 23).
