Senior Sam Hansen played the hero in the Toppers win over the Golden Flashes, coming up with a game-tying RBI single in the bottom of the seventh, then driving in the winning run in the bottom of the ninth.
The Hilltoppers advance to face the winner of Saturday night’s Kent State-Detroit matchup in Sunday’s title game. They will be going for their third regular-season tournament title when the game begins at noon (CST).
Western Kentucky 2, Kent State 1 (9 innings)
After seeing a runner thrown out at the plate in the bottom of the first inning and then being held hitless by Kent State’s Kate Leary over the next five innings, the Hilltoppers entered the bottom of the seventh facing a 1-0 deficit. But a clutch lead-off double by freshman Alana Towns and a game-tying RBI single by Hansen kept the Toppers alive and sent the game into extra frames. After both teams failed to push across a run in the eighth, Hansen again came through, this time driving in senior Riley Garcia in the bottom of the ninth to give WKU a 2-1 win and the tournament’s No. 1 seed.
Sophomore Adrienne Lathrop held the Golden Flashes in check over the first six innings, scattering three hits while holding Kent State scoreless, but ran into trouble in the top of the seventh. Kent’s Rachel Testa opened the inning with a double and advanced to third off a single by Jody Stevens. Carrie Eneix followed with a sacrifice fly to leftfield, allowing Testa to score from third and give the Golden Flashes the 1-0 edge.
Silver came on in relief of Lathrop with one on and one out, and got the Toppers out of the inning despite giving up a single to the first batter she faced. Both teams stranded runners at third over the next inning and a half, before Hansen came through in the bottom of the ninth.
Garcia started the inning on second and quickly moved over to third after a bunt single by junior Renita Pennington. But Leary rallied to retire the next two batters and appeared on her way to escaping the jam. Hansen had other plans, however, roping a RBI single to score Garcia and send Silver to 7-1 on the year.
The 2.2 innings of relief for Silver pushed her scoreless innings streak to 27.0, allowing her to best her previous school record of 26.1 (set from 2/15-2/23/02). Lathrop took a no decision in the game, despite allowing just one run and five hits with six strikeouts over 6.1 innings of work.
Hansen and Pennington tied with a team-high two hits in the win. Pennington was thrown out at the plate by leftfielder Sarah Durkalski in the bottom of the first after trying to score from second off a single by senior Jessie Richardson. The Hilltoppers struckout a season-high 10 times, allowing Leary to move into first place on Kent State’s all-time strikeout list.
Western Kentucky 6, Morehead State 0
Western had little trouble posting its second win over the Eagles, as Silver and sophomore Natasha Sevco combined to throw WKU’s fifth shutout of the year (fourth in its last five games). After Silver cruised the first four innings, Sevco held Morehead hitless over the final three to record the first save of her career.
Western tallied two runs in both the second and third innings, and never looked back en route to its 15th victory. Garcia did most of the damage in the second inning, pushing across junior Shelly Floyd and sophomore Bailey Rolfs with a two-run single. Richardson highlighted the third inning with her fifth home run of the season, a solo shot which made it 3-0. Junior Becky Minnis made it 4-0 in the bottom of the sixth when she took home on a double steal as Pennington swiped second. Richardson tacked on another RBI moments later as Pennington scored off her groundout to second.
Sevco pitched the final three innings in the win, registering the save after fanning five and walking two. Garcia and Pennington paced the squad with three hits a piece, while Garcia and Richardson tallied a team-high two RBI in the win.
