SAN ANTONIO, Texas. - WKU's timely hitting in two-out situations sparked an 8-2, series-clinching victory in game one of Sunday's double-header at UTSA, but the Roadrunners avoided the sweep with a 12-0 victory in game two at Roadrunner Field.
The Hilltoppers (12-10, 4-2 C-USA) clinched their second-straight Conference USA series win early Sunday morning as they scored runs in six of seven scheduled innings in the contest. Junior outfielder Anderson Miller continued his hot streak at the plate with two hits, three RBI, two runs and his seventh home run of the season. WKU tallied five of its 10 hits and five of its seven RBI in two-out hitting situations during the win.
WKU junior Josh Bartley protected a strong offensive showing in game one with 5.1 innings of quality work and struck out a career-high six batters.
UTSA (13-10, 3-3 C-USA) ended WKU's season-long five-game winning streak and successfully avoided the sweep by racking up 12 runs on 13 hits while cooling the Hilltoppers' hot bats to five hits. WKU was also shut out for the first time since April 16, 2014 when No. 18 Indiana blanked the Tops 1-0.
Complete recaps of both games can be found below.
The Hilltoppers return home Tuesday when they host Kentucky at Bowling Green Ballpark at 6 p.m. (CT). Tuesday's game will be a Red Out and over $1,000 in prizes will be given away. WKU is 6-1 all-time at Bowling Green Ballpark with its lone loss coming to No. 11 Louisville on March 26, 2014.
How to follow the Hilltoppers: For more information on WKU Baseball, follow the program via Twitter and Instagram at @WKUBaseball.
WKU 8, UTSA 2 (Game 1)
WKU scored in six of seven innings and was able to set the tone early by jumping out to a 4-0 lead on the Roadrunners. The Hilltopper offense backed a quality start from junior Josh Bartley, who struck out a career high six batters while allowing just two runs on seven hits during 5.1 innings of work.
Junior outfielder Anderson Miller drew a walk to start the game, senior shortstop Cody Wofford was plunked and senior first baseman Ryan Church put the game's first run on the board with a single through the left side that scored Miller. Miller would go on to extend the WKU lead to 2-0 in the second inning with a two-out single through the right side that scored redshirt sophomore second baseman Leiff Clarkson.
Freshman outfielder Kaleb Duckworth pushed the WKU advantage to 3-0 in the third inning when he plated Church with a scoring fly ball to the warning track in center field. Sophomore outfielder Paul Murray doubled to lead off the fourth and came around to score on UTSA's misplay of a sacrifice bunt by WKU catcher Ryan Messex.
UTSA trimmed WKU's 4-0 lead in half in the bottom of the fifth inning when shortstop C.J. Pickering and outfielder Kevin Markham posted RBI in back-to-back at bats. The Roadrunners' rally was short-lived, however, as WKU didn't let UTSA come closer than 4-2.
Messex started a string of three-consecutive two-out hits for WKU in the sixth inning when he lined a ball into right field. Clarkson brought Messex home with a sharply-hit single into centerfield to extend WKU's lead to 5-2 and set the stage for Miller. Miller blasted his seventh homer of the season and his fifth in the past six games to put the Tops in complete control at 7-2.
Bartley recorded his career-best sixth strikeout to start the bottom of the sixth inning before WKU turned to redshirt sophomore Kevin Elder on the mound. Elder struck out three of the six Roadrunners he faced and allowed just one hit in 1.2 innings of relief work to close the Hilltopper victory.
Senior Philip Diedrick pinch hit in the seventh inning and sent a solo home run towering over the right field fence to cap the game's scoring at 8-2. The homer was Diedrick's third of the season and WKU's 18th overall on the year.
Bartley improved to 4-1 on the season after his effective outing while WKU handed UTSA starter Nolan Trabanino his fourth loss of the season after racking up four runs and five hits on the lefty.
Five of WKU's 10 hits came in two-out scenarios and five of its seven RBI in the game also came with two outs on the board. The Tops finished the game 5-of-11 (.455) in two-out hitting situations.
Miller finished the game 2-of-3 with three RBI, two runs scored, a homer and a walk while Clarkson and junior third baseman Danny Hudzina also had two-hit performances. Hudzina's multiple-hit outing was his team-high 10th of the year.
After WKU captured the series victory in the first game it was UTSA who came out swinging in the finale as it jumped on the Hilltoppers for three runs right out of the gate. Outfielder Jesse Baker lined a double into left center to start UTSA's first inning and catcher John Bormann drove him home with a triple off the left field wall. Bormann extended the advantage to 2-0 by racing home on a failed pickoff attempt from WKU starter Austin King and the Hilltopper hole became 3-0 when UTSA outfielder Matt Hilston roped a run-scoring single into right field.
The Roadrunners chased King out of the game during the third inning when outfielder Kevin Markham delivered a bases loaded, two-run single to put WKU in a 5-0 deficit. Freshman right-hander Connor McHugh came on to relieve King and managed to escape further damage with an inning-ending strikeout with two Roadrunners in scoring position.
McHugh issued a leadoff walk to start UTSA's fourth before Baker poked a tough-luck double to left field. With Roadrunners on second and third, Tyler Straub drove a two-run single into left center to put UTSA in complete control at 7-0. A pair of sacrifice flies from Hilston and Geonte Jackson extended the lead to 9-0 and capped a four-run fourth inning for the Roadrunners.
The Roadrunners capped their huge finale with a three-run homer from Baker in the fifth inning. Baker finished his game 3-for-5 with three RBI and three runs scored.
King fell to 1-2 on the year after being chased in the third inning. The Canyon, Texas native worked 2.2 innings, struck out two and allowed five runs on six hits. UTSA right-hander Aaron Burns tossed a seven-inning, complete-game shutout for the Roadrunners to pick up his fourth win of the year.
Diedrick tallied two of WKU's five hits to lead the offense and had a home run robbed by Hiltson in the sixth inning. The Hilltoppers' five hits were its second-fewest in a game this season. No. 14 Maryland limited WKU to four hits in the season-opener.
