April 12, 2003
Murfreesboro, Tenn. - The Western Kentucky University softball team (20-20, 1-1 in Sun Belt) opened up conference play by splitting a doubleheader with Middle Tennessee (19-15, 1-5 in SBC) today in Murfreesboro. The Lady Raiders edged out a 3-2 win in game one, but the Hilltoppers responded with a 6-3 win in game two, marking WKU's first win of the season on an opponent's home field. Sophomore Dana Rey led WKU to their first SBC win with a career-high tying three hits, including two doubles.
The Hilltoppers close out their road trip with another doubleheader against Middle on Sunday, with the first game starting at 1 p.m. (CST).
Middle Tennessee 3, Western Kentucky 2 (Game 1)
The Hilltoppers dropped their first game of league play, 3-2, to Middle Tennessee as Stayc Preator (11-6) allowed just two unearned runs in the top of the first to pick up her 11th win. Western fell to 3-9 on the season in one-run games, while freshman Adrienne Lathrop dropped to 10-5 on the year.
Junior Riley Garcia and sophomore Renita Pennington got things going in the first inning, as both scored to give WKU an early 2-0 lead. Garcia opened the game with a leadoff single and advanced to second when Pennington reached on an error by MT's Kristina Hieb. WKU's centerfielder scored shortly thereafter off a throwing error by Leah Grothause as Pennington tried to steal second. Senior Kristalyn Smith pushed across the second run of the inning, as Pennington scored on a groundout to short.
The Lady Raiders cut their deficit to one run in the bottom of the second, when Erica Buhl scored off an RBI double from Hieb. Middle Tennessee tied the game at 2-all in the bottom of the fifth, as Dani Decamino hit a leadoff double and later scored off a throwing error by Pennington.
MT took the lead in the bottom of the sixth when Buhl scored her second run of the game off an RBI single from Jennifer Dorais. Preator retired the Toppers in order in the top of the seventh to earn the complete-game win.
Lathrop led the Hilltoppers with two hits, the third multi-hit game of her career. Western stranded six base runners in the game, including two in both the second and third innings. WKU missed another opportunity in the top of the sixth, as sophomore Shelly Floyd reached third base with one out, but didn't advance any further as the Hilltoppers failed to drive in the go-ahead run.
Western Kentucky 6, Middle Tennessee 3 (Game 2)
The Western Kentucky bats came alive in the second game, as the Hilltoppers produced 10 hits to pick up their first Sun Belt win of the season. Silver went the distance to even her record at 10-10 on the year.
Middle took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first when Hieb, who reached base with a leadoff double, scored off a sacrifice fly from Cortney Mitchell.
MT's starting pitcher Tiffany Childress allowed just one hit over the first three innings, a double by Rey, but was unable to make it out of the fourth inning. Rey picked up her second hit of the game, a single, and then scored when Floyd hit her eighth home run of the season to put WKU ahead 3-1. The two-run shot upped Floyd's RBI total to 33 on the season, two shy of the school record of 35 (set by Sara Alanis, 2000).
The Lady Raiders answered right back in the bottom half of the inning to tie the game at 3-all, compliments of a two-run double from Grothause, scoring pinch runner Megan Stapleton and Buhl.
Their lead was short lived, however, as WKU retook the lead in the top of the fifth as pinch runner Rebecca Minnis scored off a RBI single from Pennington, her second RBI of the year. The Hilltoppers had a chance to take on a few more runs, with Pennington and Smith on base with one out, but were unable to score anymore runs as relief pitcher Muriel Ledbetter managed to escape the jam.
The Hilltoppers pushed their lead to two runs, 5-3, in the top of the sixth when pinch runner Brandy Hawkins was awarded home plate after interference on MT's third baseman, Hieb. Rey tacked on another insurance run in the top of the seventh with her third hit of the game, an RBI double to score Pennington.
- WKU -
