The 13-inning affair was only half the story though, as one out away from victory in the bottom of the ninth, the Western (13-27) saw Louisville (21-16) score six runs to send the game to extra innings.
Leading by six runs, Western starter Daniel Faulkner took a shutout into the ninth, but ran into trouble in the ninth as Louisville loaded the bases with two outs. After falling behind two ball and no strikes to Nick Haley, WKU head coach Joel Murrie went to the bullpen and brought in Miles Ormon, who walked Haley to force home the first Cardinal run of the evening.
Ormon then hit J.T. LaFountain to force home a second run. Jorge Castillo then reached on an infield single to make it 6-3, and Isaiah Howes made it a one-run game with a two-RBI single. Western again went to the bullpen, but the first pitch Greg Durr delivered to Logan Johnson went into right field for a game-tying single. Durr was able to get pinch hitter Ryan McKinnon to ground out, ending the rally and sending the game to extra innings.
After Justin Valdes sat down the Hilltoppers in the top of the 10th, Chris Cates delivered a one-out single, and Boomer Whiting walked to put the winning run in scoring position. Western again went to the pen as J.C. Faircloth came in and surrendered a single to Haley, loading the bases. However, Faircloth struck out LaFountain and Daniel Burton to get out of the jam and keep the Hilltoppers alive.
Tim Grogan gave Western life again in the 12th as his second home run of the contest gave the Toppers a 7-6 lead. However, the Cards again fought back as Whiting started another two-out rally with a walk. Faircloth then hit Haley, and LaFountain singled home Whiting to again even things up at 7-7.
Louisville went to the bullpen in the 13th as Brian Halford came in and surrendered a one-out walk to Eric Scriven. After recording the second out of the inning, Halford walked the next three Hilltopper batters to force home a run and give WKU an 8-7 advantage.
That set the stage for McKinnon in the bottom of the inning, as after reliever Garrett Stembridge gave up a leadoff single to Howes, Louisville moved the tying run into scoring position with a Johnson sacrifice bunt. Then on the second pitch of the at bat, McKinnon hit a towering homer over the wall in left to give Louisville the victory.
The Toppers jumped out quickly as they put a three-spot on the board in the first inning. With two out and Matt Ransdell on first, Jordan Newton worked back from a two-strike count to draw a walk and keep the inning alive. Marcus Ross took advantage as he put a Jake Smith pitch over the wall in left to give Western a 3-0 lead.
Western played longball again in the third as Tim Grogan hit a solo shot to right, giving WKU a four-run advantage. The Hilltoppers got two more runs via the home run in the sixth as Ross was hit by a Smith pitch to lead off the inning, and Casey Hamilton followed with his third homer of the year to make it a 6-0 game.
Western collected 12 hits on the evening, led by Ross and Hamilton who had three hits each. Grogan also finished with a pair of hits, finishing with his first multi-homer game of the season.
Faulkner got a no-decision despite going 8.2 innings, allowing three runs on seven hits, while striking out four batters. Valdes kept the Cards in the game in the middle innings, allowing just one run on four hits, while striking out eight Hilltoppers in 6.2 innings of relief.
Western will look to regroup and get back in the win column Wednesday, as it travels to Clarksville, Tenn., to take on Austin Peay at 6:30 p.m. (CDT).
