April 20, 2003
Nashville, Tenn. - The Western Kentucky and Lipscomb squared off in a pitcher's duel Sunday at Dugan Field with neither team scoring until the bottom of the sixth when the Bison scored three runs en route to a 3-0 victory.
The Hilltoppers (20-15) struggled against David Patton allowed just one hit through eight innings and three in the contest. He struck out seven batters. Patton got quite a bit of help from his defense especially shortstop Ryan Boyer. Boyer tracked down a fly ball in left field and made a diving catch going away from the infield.
Western's Kenny Hughes (Sr., Indianapolis, Ind.) threw 5-1/3 solid innings before giving up three runs in the sixth with one out and falls to 2-3. Preston Embrey got things going with a single and scored with Brian Passons on a double by Chris Parker. Parker made it 3-0 when he scored on a base hit by Nathan McCorkle. Matt Wilhite (Sr., Franklin, Ky.) got WKU out of the jam when he picked McCorkle off third.
WKU tried to rally in the ninth as Rafael Vallejo (Sr., The Bronx, N.Y.) led off with a single. Vallejo was called out on runner interference when Matt Johnston (Jr., Clarkson, Ky.) singled. Western could not capitalize.
The Hilltoppers head to Murray State on Tuesday to face Murray State in a 3 p.m. CST contest. Western returns home Friday at 6 p.m. to host Middle Tennessee in a three game series.
