April 21, 2014
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - WKU Baseball (21-19) will take on a nationally ranked opponent for the seventh time this season when its visits No. 13 Louisville (28-11) at Jim Patterson Stadium Tuesday evening. First pitch is slated for 5:00 p.m. (CT).
The Cardinals snapped WKU's three-game home winning streak in the series earlier in the season with a 5-3 win at Bowling Green Ballpark on March 26. WKU leads the all-time series 68-63 and has won 34 of 71 meetings in Louisville. The Hilltoppers have lost seven-straight in Louisville, however, with their last victory coming on May 2, 2006.
The Hilltoppers are 2-4 against ranked teams this season, with both victories coming on the road at No. 4 Vanderbilt and No. 1 Louisiana-Lafayette. Only Florida (3) sports more road wins over Top 5 teams in 2014 than WKU. In the Hilltoppers' six previous ranked matchups they have out-hit their opponents 62-46, with Louisville being the only team to out-hit them (8-7).
WKU is coming off a 2-2 week in which it lost a 1-0 pitchers' duel at No. 18 Indiana before taking two-of-three games from Sun Belt Conference rival South Alabama. Freshman southpaw Ryan Thurston will make his third start of the year Tuesday and will face Louisville lefty Josh Rogers. Rogers started against the Hilltoppers in their March 26 meeting and scattered two hits over four scoreless innings.
Thurston strung together one of the finest pitching performances in WKU history at Indiana last week, taking a no-hitter into the ninth inning before surrendering his only hit to Hoosier All-American Kyle Schwarber. The rookie struck out a career high seven batters and only allowed two to enter scoring position over eight scoreless innings.
The Hilltopper bats have been hot lately, pounding out at least nine hits in nine of their last 10 games. Five Hilltoppers are sporting batting averages of .300 or better and WKU's team average is up to .290, which ranks 44th nationally. WKU racked up 38 hits in three games against South Alabama, marking the third time in the past four league series the Hilltoppers have had at least 35 hits.
Louisville's offense is led by Jeff Gardner and Cole Sturgeon, who are batting .338 and .302, respectively. Twenty of Gardner's 47 hits have gone for extra bases while he ranks among the nation's leaders with 43 RBI.
Tuesday's game at Louisville can be heard on local radio at ESPN 1450 AM and fans can also listen online via subscription at WKUSports.tv. Social media updates will be provided on Twitter at @WKU_GameDay. For more information on WKU Baseball, follow the team on Twitter at @WKUBaseball or visit WKUSports.com.
