March 21, 2003
Bowling Green, Ky. - Hitless in his last 10 at bats, Western Kentucky senior catcher Kevin Bearden (Tallahassee, Fla.) picked the right time to break out of the slump when he launched a solo, walk-off home run to lead off the bottom of the ninth to send the Hilltoppers past Louisiana-Lafayette Friday night 4-3 in the Sun Belt Conference opener for both teams.
Bearden, who is hitting .143 on the season, blasted his second career long ball to right center off of Ragin' Cajun starting pitcher Kevin Ardoin. Ardoin (0-3), making his first start of the season, had limited WKU to three runs on four hits through eight innings before giving up the home run. With the win, Western wins its fourth straight to improve to 11-6. Louisiana falls to 6-19.
Trailing 1-0 heading into the bottom of the second, the Hilltoppers rebounded by scoring three runs to take the lead. With one out, Brent Miller (So., Muncie, Ind.) singled and moved to second as David Lower (Sr., Anderson, Ind.) walked. Travis Brown (Sr., Kankakee, Ill.) took one for the team in the second loading the bases with two gone. Sophomore Rafael Vallejo (The Bronx, N.Y.) roped a two-run single to right scoring Miller and Lower. Brown gave Western a 3-1 when he scored from third on a balk by Ardoin.
The Ragin' Cajuns cut their deficit to 3-2 in the top of the third. Corey Coles, who scored the visitors opening run after beginning the game with a double, led off the third with a single and moved to second on a balk. Coles scored his second run of the game when he scored on a sacrifice fly by Brad Saloom.
Louisiana tied the game in the sixth. Saloom singled to start the inning and scored as Phillip Hawke doubled down the line in left with no outs. A big inning was averted when Bearden caught Hawke slow getting back to second after a pitch. Louisiana tied the game at three with a run in the sixth.
Western, which missed opportunities to score when it had runners on second with no outs in the fourth and fifth, got a solid pitching performance from starter J.C. Faircloth (So., Jacksonville, Fla.) and reliever Matt Wilhite (Sr., Franklin, Ky.). Faircloth scattered seven hits over seven innings striking out three, while allowing just three earned runs. Wilhite improved to 2-1 by tossing two innings of shutout baseball. The Topper defense was also solid. Third baseman Tim Grogan (Fr., Villa Hills, Ky.) made three stellar and twice threw runners out after making diving stops to rob hits.
The Hilltoppers and Ragin' Cajuns meet in game two of the series on Saturday at 2 p.m. (CST). The finale is Sunday at 1 p.m.
