Western’s victory over Austin Peay pushed its win streak to eight games, tying the school record set by the 2003 Hilltoppers. But after taking advantage of the short outfield walls in the first game, WKU fell victim to the long ball against Nicholls State as a two-run homer by Kristi Blanchard and 15 strikeouts by Meier sealed the Toppers’ fate.
WKU returns to action tomorrow morning when it faces Ohio at 8 a.m. (CST), before taking on the host Yellow Jackets at 2 p.m. Bracket play then begins at 7 p.m., should the Hilltoppers qualify.
Western Kentucky 10, Austin Peay 0 (five innings)
Sophomores Bailey Rolfs and Lathrop led the Hilltoppers to a 10-0, five-inning win over Austin Peay in WKU’s first game of the Buzz Classic. Lathrop (6-2) allowed just one hit and struck out eight Governors en route to her second complete-game shutout of the year. Rolfs tallied a career-high three hits and was one of three Toppers (Rolfs, sophomore Natasha Sevco and freshman Lindsay Gatti) to go deep in the second inning.
Lathrop had little trouble handling the Austin Peay batting order. After surrendering a walk in the first inning, APSU’s Christina Nickey came up with a bloop infield single in the second. She would be the last Governor to reach base as Lathrop retired the final 11 hitters in order.
Three solo homers in the bottom of the second allowed the Hilltoppers to run out to an early 4-0 lead. Rolfs and Sevco got things going with back-to-back bombs (Sevco’s first of the year). APSU’s Sarah Longmire forced the next WKU batter to groundout, but Gatti followed with the first homer of her collegiate career to make it 3-0. WKU pushed its lead to 4-0 when senior Riley Garcia scored from third on a double steal as junior Renita Pennington took second.
The Hilltoppers pushed their lead to 10-0 in the bottom of the third, scoring six unearned runs off the Austin Peay pitching staff. Pinch runner Renikka Toliver and Rolfs made it 6-0 by scoring off a throwing error by the Governors’ Jessica Warden. Consecutive walks to Sevco and Garcia loaded the bases for WKU. Pennington boosted Western’s lead to 7-0 with an RBI single, followed by a bases-loaded walk by freshman Alana Towns. Senior Sam Hansen rounded out the scoring surge with a two-run single.
Hansen paced the Toppers with two RBI, while Garcia registered two of WKU’s four stolen bases in the win.
Nicholls State 2, Western Kentucky 0
Senior Allison Silver (9-2) lost for the first time in seven outings, as the Hilltoppers failed to register a hit against Meier. Silver gave up just four hits in the loss, the most costly of which came against Blanchard, who’s two-run shot barely cleared the short perch in right.
Meier pushed her record to 8-5 on the year after fanning 15 Toppers, striking out the side in both the first and fifth innings, and allowed only one batter to reach base, walking Rolfs in the second inning.
Silver’s only other defeat came against Louisville, when the Hilltopper offense was shutout in a 2-0 loss. The only other pitcher to fire a no-hitter against Western was Southern Illinois’ Erin Stremsterfer, who threw a perfect game on April 14, 2000.
