Both WKU and IPFW are now 16-18 on the season.
“I was proud of our pitching staff today. Our starters went deep and our bullpen came in and gave us a chance in both game,” said Hilltopper head coach Chris Finwood. “We missed some opportunities to plate runs in the first game, but came back with some clutch at bats to win game two.”
The Mastodons did most of their game-one damage in the fourth inning, plating three runs. After a single and an error got the inning started, Tony Nichting moved both runners into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt. Brent Doty and Nick Diem followed with back-to-back RBI singles to give IPFW a 2-1 lead. Hilltopper starter Liam Shanahan then loaded the bases, before hitting Aaron Kerns to force home the third run of the inning.
IPFW stretched the lead to 4-1 in the sixth when a Ryan Keena sacrifice fly drove home Chris Venvertloh with what proved to be the winning run. The Hilltoppers cut the lead in half in the bottom of that inning as Dennis Winn led off the frame with his third home run of the season.
In fact, WKU scored single runs in three different innings of game one. It took an early lead as Matt Ransdell led off the bottom of the first with a single, then scored on a one-out triple by Scotty Colt. Then, trailing 4-2 in the bottom of the ninth, Jordan Newton hit a two-out solo homer — his second in as many games — to make 4-3 before Adam Gibson recorded the final out to pick up his second save of the season.
Tyler Baatz picked up the win in the opener as he allowed just two runs on seven hits in 6.2 innings of work. Shanahan suffered his second straight one-run loss, surrendering four runs — two of which were earned — while striking out four in 7.1 innings.
Ransdell, Jordan Newton and Jack Ambrose all collected two hits for WKU, while Caleb Smith, Kerns and Diem each had a pair of hits for IPFW in the opener.
Both teams scored unearned runs on sacrifice flies for their first runs of game two. The Hilltoppers then took the lead in the fourth when Newton hit his second home run of the days — and third in as many games — to make it 3-1.
The Mastodons got a run back when Smith scored on a Nichting double in the fifth. However, Casey Hamiton singled home a run with a bases-loaded single in the sixth. Winn was then hit by a pitch to force home Corteze Armstrong with the fifth Hilltopper run of the game.
WKU added some insurance in its final at bat, plating four runs. Andrew Nickerson drove home the first run when a pinch-hit single scored Newton. Then, after loading the bases, Ransdell extended his hitting streak to 13 games with a run-scoring single. Armstrong followed with a two-run single through the right side to give the Toppers a 9-3 lead. Ben Paxton then threw his third scoreless inning of relief to close out the game and pick up his first career save.
Starter Steve Hupper earned his first win of the season, going six innings while allowing just three runs and striking out five.
Armstrong put together the second four-hit game of his career, collecting three on bunt. Ransdell also collected three hits for WKU. Doty added three hits for IPFW in game two.
The teams will play the rubber match of their three-game series on Sunday at 1 p.m. (CDT) at Nick Denes Field.
