May 14, 2002
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - Western Kentucky starting pitcher Grady Hinchman (Fr., Pendleton, Ind.) earned his first career victory, fanning seven batters in 5 1/3 innings to lead the Hilltopper baseball team to a 9-6 triumph over Kentucky Tuesday in front of a season-high 470 spectators at Nick Denes Field. With the win, the Hilltoppers (34-16) claim their first two-game series sweep of the Wildcats (17-33) since 1996.
Relief pitcher Matt Wilhite (Jr., Franklin, Ky.) made his 30th appearance, tying WKU's all-time single season appearance mark, and staved-off a late UK rally to earn his seventh save, giving him 12 for his career to tie Jeff Meier's (1987-88) all-time record.
WKU wasted no time to get on the board, plating three runs on four hits in the bottom of the first inning. David Lower (Jr., Alexandria, Ind.) took UK starter Mark Galvin's first pitch and belted his third home run of the season over the wall in left, and Antone Towns (Fr., Louisville, Ky.) and Nick Turner (Sr., Louisville, Ky.) followed with an RBI double and an RBI single respectively to give the Hilltoppers a 3-0 lead.
In the bottom of the second, the Hilltoppers padded their lead to four when Travis Brown (Jr., Kankakee, Ill.) scored on a sacrifice fly to right by Tanner Townsend (Sr., London, Ky.).
The fifth inning saw UK tally its first run of the contest on an RBI single by Spencer Preston , and WKU plate two more on consecutive RBI singles by Patrick Ransdell (Sr., Bowling Green, Ky.) and Brown to make it a 6-1 ballgame heading into the final four innings.
UK quickly cut the lead to one with two swings, as Seth Morris hit a two-run home run in the top of the sixth, and Cory Hahn followed with another two-run job in the top of the seventh.
The Hilltoppers answered with three runs in the bottom of the eighth, highlighted by an RBI single by Trevor Keesling (Jr., Pendleton, Ind.), and the Wildcats tacked on another in the top of the ninth, but Wilhite ended the rally, striking out the final two batters to preserve the win.
Hinchman allowed three runs on three hits, while Wilhite allowed one run on two hits in 2 2/3 innings of relief.
UK used three pitchers to give up a combined 11 hits, with Galvin earning the loss to fall to 0-2 on the season.
WKU returns to action Wednesday, as the Hilltoppers travel to Eastern Kentucky for their final non-conference contest this year. First pitch is set for 2 p.m. (CDT).
