Leading 3-2, WKU starter J.C. Faircloth came out for the ninth inning but gave up back-to-back singles to Michael Lopez and Yahmed Yema to start the inning. Western went to its bullpen as Miles Ormon came in to relieve Faircloth. Nick Cadena then laid down a sacrifice bunt to move the winning run into scoring position. Ormon then went to work on pinch hitter James McOwen, but on the eighth pitch of the at bat, McOwen singled to center, scoring both runners and giving the Golden Panthers the one-run victory.
Both teams took advantage of some suspect defense to plate early runs. Dennis Diaz got things started with a double to lead off the bottom of the first, and Bryan Pullin reached on an error to put runners at first and second. Lopez then reached on a bunt single, but the throw to first got away, allowing Diaz to score from second with the game’s first run. Yema followed with a sacrifice fly that scored Pullin and gave FIU a 2-0 lead.
Western came right back in the top of the second. Antone Towns got things started as he drew a one-out walk. Golden Panther starter Danny Hernandez was able to strike out Casey Hamilton for the second out of the inning, but the third strike got away from catcher Danny Marquez as Towns moved into scoring position. That proved to be a big play as Michael Wilhite followed with a ground ball that was misplayed, allowing Towns to score all the way from second with Western’s first run. Wilhite moved to second on a Hernandez balk, and Eric Scriven delivered a RBI single to tie the game at 2-2.
Both Hernandez and Faircloth settled in as it remained a 2-2 game until the top of the seventh. After Wilhite was hit by a Hernandez pitch to start the inning, Scriven moved him into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt. Hernandez, however, was injured on the play and had to leave the game. Chris Siebenaler came out of the bullpen and got Corteze Armstrong to ground out, but Wilhite moved to third on the play. Matt Ransdell followed with a grounder to short, but Luis Rivera’s throw to first was wide of the bag allowing Wilhite to score the go-ahead run.
Faircloth (2-5) suffered the loss despite going 8.0 innings, allowing just four runs on six hits. Siebanaler (4-0) picked up the win in relief as he blanked the Hilltoppers over the final 2.2 innings.
Offensively, Western was led by Wilhite, who collected two hits and scored two of the Hilltoppers’s three runs. Lopez had two hits to lead FIU.
Western returns home for the final four games of the regular season, beginning on Tuesday (May 24) with a nonconference game against Austin Peay at 6 p.m. (CDT). Louisiana-Lafayette will then visit Nick Denes Field for the final series of the regular season next weekend.
