BOWLING GREEN, Ky. WKU will face a pair of non-conference opponents in rematches this week, beginning with Austin Peay traveling to Nick Denes Field on Tuesday and followed by a trip to Lipscomb in Nashville on Wednesday. The Toppers are a nearly perfect 23-2 at home, but have dropped five-straight to the Governors. Since WKU downed Lipscomb 10-6 on April 1, the Bison have lost 13 of their last 17. (Obtain the complete version of game notes by downloading the PDF below.)
GAME #43:
WKU vs. Austin Peay
Tuesday, April 28, 2009 6:00 PM CT
GAME #44:
WKU at Lipscomb
Wednesday, April 29, 2009 6:00 PM CT
►30 WINS: With a pair of wins over the weekend, WKU recorded the program's 18th 30-win season in the past 36 years.
►APPROACHING 700: WKU has 698 all-time wins at Nick Denes Field.
►RPI: In the second official release of the RPI by the NCAA on April 22, WKU is 40th. The Toppers are the highest rated school in the Sun Belt Conference. The next release is due out late Tuesday. In the "unofficial" RPI, WKU is 34th.
►WEEKEND WARRIORS: WKU continues to lower its team ERA in Sun Belt Conference contests, allowing just eight earned runs in three games this weekend. The Toppers dropped their league-best Sun Belt only ERA to 4.16.
►EYEING 40 WINS: As we approach the homestretch of the 2009 regular season, WKU has its sights set on the program's first 40-win season in 21 years (1988). A 40-win campaign this year would be the fifth in the 90-year history of WKU baseball.
►SEEKING HISTORIC FIRST: With three Sun Belt series remaining, WKU is in first place, in position to claim the program's first-ever Sun Belt Conference Regular Season Baseball Championship in school history.
►LONG-TIME RIVALS: In its 90 seasons of college baseball, WKU has faced only Middle Tennessee more times than the Toppers have taken the field against Austin Peay. WKU leads the all-time series with the Governors 87-54-1.
►TAKING ON THE OVC: WKU is 344-255-6 for a .574 winning percentage against the 11 current members of the Ohio Valley Conference.
►TAKING ON THE A-SUN: WKU is 66-80-1 for a .452 winning percentage against the 12 current members of the Atlantic Sun Conference.
►RECORD-SETTING STREAK STOPPED: Matt Rice was held hitless in three official at bats at Arkansas State, halting the sophomore catcher's hitting streak at 31 games. Rice shattered the previous school record of 24 set by Bill Weyers in 1993 and finished just three shy of Bryan Pullin's (FIU) Sun Belt Conference mark of 34 set during the 2005 and 2006 campaigns.
►LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION: WKU played in its first televised game of the season on Saturday when Comcast / Charter Sports Southeast (CSS) aired live the WKU vs. Florida Atlantic game from Nick Denes Field.
►TAKING ON THE SUN BELT: WKU is 305-325-2 for a .484 winning percentage against the 10 current members of the Sun Belt Conference. With 283 league wins, the Hilltoppers rank third for most victories in conference history.
►"SERIES"OUSLY IN CONTROL: WKU has won its last 11-straight weekend series at the friendly confines.
►HISTORIC START: Winning eight of their first nine Sun Belt Conference games, WKU began league play with its best start in 27 years of Sun Belt affiliation.
►BEST HOME SEASON EVER: WKU is haveing its best ever home season in 90 years of Hilltopper Baseball. Through 25 games, the Hilltoppers are 23-2, winning a school record 16-straight during the year.
►HISTORIC CAMPAIGN: WKU is just 70 percent done with their conference schedule, but have already put up impressive numbers. With 16 wins thus far, the Toppers are tied for second in school history for most Sun Belt Conference wins, trailing only the 1999 team (21).
►HITTING IN FRONT OF THE HOME CROWD: In 25 home games this season, WKU is batting a whopping .370 with Matt Rice, Jake Wells, Wade Gaynor, Terrence Dayleg, and Matt Hightower all hitting over .380 at the friendly confines. WKU has also gotten good stuff from its pitchers at Denes Field, posting a 4.50 ERA and holding opponents to a .266 BAA.
►PHENOMENAL RUN HALTED: WKU had its streak of six-straight weekend series wins (dating back to last year) snapped at FIU on April 3-5.
►ATTRACTING ATTENTION: In the April 27 release of the USA Today/ESPN Top 25 Coaches Poll, WKU received four votes, placing them 43rd. It is the fourth-straight week that the Hilltoppers have garnered attention in the national balloting. WKU also received votes in the latest release of the NCBWA Top 25 poll.
►NCAA: WKU is ranked in the top 25 in the NCAA in 11 different statistical categories including fourth in fielding percentage.
►ANOTHER 20-WIN HOME CAMPAIGN: WKU just notched the program's 13th 20-win home season. With five home games remaining, the Toppers need to go 4-1 to tie the school record for home wins in a season, currently 27 set in 2002.
►COMBINING FOR A NO-NO: Four of the youngest arms on the team, three freshmen and one sophomore, combined to pitch a seven-inning no-hitter against Kentucky Wesleyan on March 31 in a 15-0 win. Craig Stem, Tyler Gilliland, Harry Stubel, and Aaron Mayfield recorded 10 strikeouts while not allowing a hit.
►PICKING UP STEAM: After a slow start to his senior season, Terrence Dayleg was batting just .200 through 11 games. But over the last 28 games, he is second on the team hitting .383 with 11 doubles, slugging .589.
►RARE LATE LOSS: FIU's come-from-behind win over WKU with three runs in the bottom of the ninth on April 3 marked the only time this season the Toppers have lost when leading after eight innings. WKU is currently 21-1 in those games.
►ALL THINGS MUST COME TO AN END: WKU's remarkable streak of winning games when holding opponents to nine hits or less came to an end on April 14 in a 7-4 loss at Austin Peay. The Toppers had been 17-0 and are now 19-1 in those games.
►SUN BELT SLUGGER: Wade Gaynor is batting a team-best .363 and slugging .750 in Sun Belt play with eight home runs and 24 RBI.
►WORKING FOR THE WEEKEND: After opening the season 16-1 in weekend games, WKU dropped two of three at FIU, but still sport an impressive 24-5 mark. The current starting weekend rotation is 15-3.
►LAUNCHING THE LONG BALL: Having launched 58 home runs through 42 games, WKU is on pace to hit 77 in the 56-game regular season, which would rank fourth all-time in school history, trailing only the 1985 (114), 1980 (89), and 1981 (86) squads.
►DOUBLE TROUBLE: When WKU has held its opponents to single digits in hits, they are 19-1. When the Toppers' foes hit 10 or more, however, WKU is 11-11 this season.
►FINNY'S HOME SUN BELT SUCCESS: WKU has won eight-straight Sun Belt Conference home series at Nick Denes Field under head coach Chris Finwood. Highlighted by five sweeps, the Toppers are 21-3 over that span.
►NCAA's ELITE: As we approach the home-stretch of the 2009 season, WKU continues to put up impressive numbers, ranking in the top 25 in Division I in 11 different categories including: batting average (20th), scoring (11th), runs (9th), hits (19th), home runs (22nd), home runs per game (22nd), slugging percentage (18th), walks (19th), hit by pitch (14th), sacrifice flies (17th), and fielding percentage (4th).
►DANGEROUS DUO: Two WKU hitters rank in the top 10 in the Sun Belt Conference in batting with Matt Rice (3rd) and Wade Gaynor (10th). Rice is third in the league in hits and second in RBI. Gaynor is first in runs scored while ranking third in home runs and four in RBI.
►FRESHMAN PHENOMS: Kes Carter and Jared Andreoli are batting .338 and .320 respectively, combining for 51 runs, 11 extra base hits, and 37 RBI.
►TAKING ON THE SEC: WKU has played all 12 current members of the Southeastern Conference (SEC), holding a 63-118-2 all-time mark. The Toppers are .500 or better all-time against two members of the SEC, Tennessee (2-2) and Georgia (2-0).
►TAKING ON THE BIG EAST: WKU is 101-83 for a .549 winning percentage against the 12 current members of the Big East. The Toppers have a winning record against South Florida, Louisville, Cincinnati, and Villanova. Dropping its only meeting with Notre Dame in 1926, the Irish are the only member to have a winning record over WKU.
►TAKING ON THE COLONIAL ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION: WKU is 9-5 for a .643 winning percentage against the 11 current members of the Colonial Athletic Association.
►FINNY WINS 100TH GAME: With a 10-6 victory over Lipscomb on last Wednesday evening, WKU head coach Chris Finwood became just the fourth Topper head coach to reach 100 wins (since 1923).
►WEEKLY SBC SUCCESS: Since the Sun Belt began issuing Player of the Week honors, WKU has won the award 25 times following Chad Cregar's selection on March 9. The league started naming a Pitcher of the Week in 1992 and since that time, WKU has received 14 selection with Matt Ridings being tabbed in 2008.
►CREGAR NAMED PLAYER OF THE WEEK: On March 9, senior outfielder Chad Cregar was named the Sun Belt Conference Player of the Week, the second-straight selection for the Toppers. He batted .357 and slugged 1.071 in four games including a series sweep of ULM. Cregar blasted three home runs and drove in 10 RBI. He leads the team in home runs.
►GAYNOR NAMED PLAYER OF THE WEEK: After batting .474 and slugging 1.000, junior third baseman Wade Gaynor was named the Sun Belt Conference Player of the Week on March 2. Gaynor had multiple hits in four of his five games during the week, scoring 10 runs and driving in eight RBI.
►OFFENSIVE EXPLOSION: The 23 runs the Toppers racked up against Albany in February 27th's 23-2 rout of the Great Danes was the highest single game output since blowing out Austin Peay 29-15 on May 17, 2005.
►1,500 WINS: With the doubleheader sweep of Albany on March 1, WKU surpassed the 1,500-win plateau in 90 seasons of baseball.
►MOVING ON UP: Junior righthander Matt Ridings is now third all-time at WKU with 23 career victories following an impressive win over Florida Atlantic on April 25. He is now one back of Heath Haynes (1988-91) for second, and five behind the all-time leader, Ryan Hutchinson (1998-2001).
►LONG-TIME RIVALS: March 25 marked the 121st meeting between WKU and Louisville, which is tied for the fifth most all-time that the Hilltoppers have meet an opponent (with Tennessee Tech). It trails only Middle Tennessee (198), Austin Peay (142), Eastern Kentucky (133), and Murray State (125).
►SO YOU WANT SOME VARIETY...: In 42 games this season, head coach Chris Finwood has used 34 different batting orders.
►HOME SWEET HOME: Since Nick Denes Field opened in 1969, the Toppers are 698-380-4 (.647). In 40 seasons, WKU has had just two losing campaigns at "The Nick".
►TAKING ON THE AMERICA EAST: WKU is 5-2 all-time when facing the seven current members of the America East Conference. The only match-ups with the league have come with the Albany Great Danes.
►FAMILIAR FOE: February 25 marked the 90th meeting between Vanderbilt and WKU with the Commodores holding a 57-31-2 advantage. The long-time series represents the eighth-most meetings with WKU by one opponent, the sixth-most among non-conference foes, and the third-most among non-conference, out-of-state programs.
►SUN BELT OPENERS: The Toppers are 11-16 all-time in Sun Belt season openers. In home openers, WKU is 10-17.
►SEASON OPENERS: In 90 season openers, WKU is now 49-40-1 all-time for a .550 winning percentage. Since joining the Sun Belt Conference in 1983, the Toppers are 12-15 in season openers, winning the last three. A win over Toledo gave WKU three-straight season opening wins, their longest stretch since claiming four in a row from 1950 to 1953.
►HOME OPENERS: WKU is 61-26-2 all-time in home openers (.697) including winning four of their last five.
►SUN BELT SUCCESS: Despite not being a member of the Sun Belt Conference for the first five years of the league's existence, WKU still ranks second all-time in overall wins (792), third in Sun Belt Conference victories (283), and tied for second in SBC Tournament wins (30).
►WALLACE WATCH LIST: Chad Cregar and Matt Ridings have been named to the 2009 Brooks Wallace Player of the Year Watch List, the College Baseball Foundation announced. They are two of the seven players from Sun Belt Conference to make the prestigious 204-member preseason list.
►CREGAR, RIDINGS NAMED PRESEASON ALL-AMERICANS: Two WKU baseball players have earned preseason All-America honors. Senior slugger Chad Cregar was named to the National College Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) First-Team as the top designated hitter as well as to the Louisville Slugger Second-Team as an outfielder. Junior pitcher Matt Ridings was selected to the Louisville Slugger Second-Team.
►CHALLENGING 2009 SLATE: WKU's challenging 56-game schedule features 32 home games and 10 contests against teams that competed in the 2008 NCAA Tournament.
►WKU PICKED TO WIN SUN BELT CONFERENCE: After winning the 2008 Sun Belt Conference Tournament and advancing to the program's third NCAA Tournament, Western Kentucky University has been picked to capture the school's first-ever SBC Regular Season Baseball Championship, according to a poll of the league's 11 head coaches. WKU garnered nine of 11 first-place tallies and totalled 119 points. Troy came in second in the balloting with 100 points followed by ULM (84) in third. New Orleans (79) and Louisiana-Lafayette (78) split the remaining two first-place votes and finished third and fourth respectively.
►RIDINGS NAMED SBC PRESEASON PITCHER OF THE YEAR: Junior ace Matt Ridings was selected as the SBC Preseason Pitcher of the Year. The 6-1 right-hander from Brentwood, Tenn., was 10-3 record in 15 starts and a 3.88 earned run average.
►RIDINGS, CREGAR, AND GAYNOR NAMED SBC PRESEASON ALL-CONFERENCE: Matt Ridings, Chad Cregar, and Wade Gaynor have all been named to the 14-member Preseason Sun Belt All-Conference team.
►RIVALS.COM LIKES WKU TO TAKE IT ALL; THREE TOPPERS HONORED WITH PRESEASON ACCLAIM: Rivals.com has selected Western Kentucky University as its preseason favorite to win the 2009 Sun Belt Conference Championship. If the national media outlet is correct, it would be the first SBC Regular Season Title for the Hilltoppers. Chad Cregar, Wade Gaynor, and Matt Ridings were also named to the Rivals.com Preseason All-Conference team. The defending 2008 Sun Belt Conference Tournament Champions were also picked as the "Team on the Rise."
►ANOINTING OF A CHAMPION: Two more publications have anointed Western Kentucky University as the team to beat for the 2009 Sun Belt Conference Championship. Southeastern Baseball and Collegiate Baseball both tabbed the Hilltoppers as the conference's preseason favorite, joining Rivals.com in that camp.
►MORE TOPPERS TOUTED: In addition to picking the Hilltoppers to win the Sun Belt, Collegiate Baseball named Chad Cregar as the "Projected Player of the Year" and Matt Ridings as the "Projected Pitcher of the Year." Terrence Dayleg and Wade Gaynor made the list of "Other Top Players to Watch."
