The scenario for the Hilltoppers to make the Sun Belt Tournament has become simple. Either a WKU victory in Sunday’s series finale, or a loss by Arkansas-Little Rock to Florida International on Sunday would give Western the final spot in next week’s Aeropostale Sun Belt Conference Tournament.
Western founds itself in a 1-1 contest in the fourth inning of game one, but plated three runs off Cajun starter Kevin Ardoin to take a 4-1 lead. ULL cut the lead in half on a Justin Morgan solo homer in the fifth, but a three-RBI single from Antone Towns and run-scoring single from Casey Hamilton in the bottom of the fifth stretched the Western lead to 8-2. After Louisiana-Lafayette got three in the sixth, Western came right back with three of its own in the bottom of the inning.
The Hilltoppers added three insurance runs in the seventh on a Matt Ransdell single and Jordan Newton two-RBI double extended the lead to 14-5. WKU made the lead hold up as Miles Ormon came out of the bullpen to seven of the eight batters he faced, allowing just one hit in his 2.1 innings of relief.
Western collected 17 hits in the contest, with five Hilltoppers having multi-hit games. Towns led the way with four hits and a game-high five RBI in the contest. Ransdell and Marcus Ross each had three hits. Justin Merendino had two hits to lead ULL.
Grady Hinchman (2-6) got the win in game one as he allowed five runs on seven hits, with four strikeouts in 6.2 innings of work.
It was the Ragin’ Cajuns that jumped out early in game two, getting a three-run homer from Alex Preciado in the top of the second. Western got one back in the bottom of the inning as Newton doubled and scored on a Towns single to make it 3-1. But ULL came right back with three more in the third as they strung together four straight singles to start the inning.
Western never mounted another rally against Cajun starter Austin Faught as he went 7.0 innings, allowing just one run on six hits, while striking out four to improve to 11-0 on the season.
Louisiana-Lafayette cushioned its lead, scoring two runs in the sixth and two more in the seventh to stretch the lead to 10-1. The advantage reached double figures when Ray Dees scored on a wild pitch in the eighth to make it 11-1.
Western got just six hits in the second game, with Newton and Eric Scriven collecting two each.
The Hilltoppers and Cajuns close out the regular season tomorrow at 1 p.m. (CDT) at Nick Denes Field.
