April 9, 2002
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - With the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth, Nick Turner (Sr., Louisville, Ky.) scored Rafael Vallejo (Fr., The Bronx, N.Y.) with a single to left, breaking a 9-9 tie and giving the Western Kentucky baseball team a 10-9 triumph over Louisville Tuesday at Nick Denes Field. In a game that had 29 hits combined and four lead-changes, the Hilltoppers (23-8) win their season-high eighth-straight and improve to 20-3 at home, while the Cardinals drop to 19-9 on the year.
Western grabbed the early lead in the bottom of the first when Tanner Townsend (Sr., London, Ky.) smashed a home run over the wall in left-center off Louisville starter Mike Eilers, his team-leading seventh of the season to give the Toppers a 1-0 advantage.
Louisville tied the game in the top of the second courtesy of a J.T. LaFountain RBI-single through the left side of the Topper defense. The Cardinals followed with three more in the top of the third, highlighted by a pair of run scoring doubles by Curt Stewart and Mike Budak to go ahead, 4-1.
WKU answered in its half of the third when Travis Brown (Jr., Kankakee, Ill.) belted his second long ball of the year, a solo shot to left-center to cut the lead to one. Two batters later, Townsend recorded his second hit of the day when he ripped a single to right, and Ryan Cattell (Sr., Minnetonka, Minn.) was hit by Eilers to put two on with one out. Jeff Pacholke (Sr., Prairie DuSac, Wis.) stepped up and scored Townsend with a single to make it a 4-3 game. WKU went on to plate three more runs with the help of a pair of Cardinal errors to cap-off a six-run outburst and take the lead, 7-4.
Louisville would regain the lead, scoring one run in the top of the fourth, and three more in the top of the seventh to take a 8-7 advantage into the final three innings.
WKU tied the game once again in the bottom of the seventh when Townsend launched his second solo home run of the game, this time off relief pitcher Grant Williams, and with neither squad able to plate any runs in the eighth, the dramatics were set up for the ninth and final inning.
Hilltopper closer Matt Wilhite (Jr., Franklin, Ky.) entered the game to face Mike Budak to begin the ninth, and Budak won the battle, belting a lead-off home run to left-center to give the Cardinals a 9-8 lead.
After Ryan Arnett (Fr., Palestine, Ind.) grounded out to lead off the bottom of the inning, Louisville inserted closer Josh Ring. Western accepted the challenge, collecting a pair of singles by Townsend and Cattell and a walk by Pacholke to load the bases with one out. Antone Towns (Fr., Louisville, Ky.) stepped up and was hit by Ring, scoring Townsend to knot the game at 9, and Turner followed with the game-winner to earn the 10-9 comeback victory.
J.C. Faircloth (Fr., Jacksonville, Fla.) got the start, giving up five runs on nine hits in 4.0 innings pitched, while Wilhite earned the win, allowing one run on one hit to improve to a perfect 6-0 on the year.
Ring earned the loss for Louisville, giving up two runs on three hits to fall to 4-2 on the season.
The Hilltoppers return to action Friday at 7 p.m. (CDT) in the opener of a three-game Sun Belt series at Middle Tennessee.
