Middle Tennessee 9, WKU 2 (PDF)
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. -- After two gut-wrenching losses to begin its Conference USA series at Middle Tennessee the WKU baseball team was not able to get one back in the finale as the Blue Raiders completed their sweep of the Hilltoppers with a 9-2 victory Sunday at Reese Smith Jr. Field.
The league-leading Blue Raiders (28-20, 18-6 C-USA) jumped on the Hilltoppers (23-23, 9-15 C-USA) for five runs in the first two innings and continually pitched around WKU threats to finish off their winning weekend. The Hilltoppers had their chances but batted 3-for-18 (.167) with runners on base and could only score in the second inning.
Brad Jarreau started Middle Tennessee's big day at the plate with a leadoff single against rookie lefty Logan Weins in the first inning, Dustin Delgado reached on an error and with two outs in the opening frame, Jake Ingold cranked a three-run homer over the left field wall to put WKU in a 3-0 hole right out of the gate.
The Tops answered with two runs of their own in the second inning as they loaded the bases with no outs to start the frame. Rookie designated hitter Kaleb Duckworth led off with a single, senior shortstop Cody Wofford scooted him to third on a successful hit-and-run single and sophomore outfielder Paul Murray drew a walk to juice the bases. Redshirt sophomore Ty Hogan grounded into a double play but it still resulted in a WKU score as Duckworth raced home. Clarkson delivered a two-out RBI single to right field to plate Wofford and trim the Middle Tennessee lead to 3-2.
Designated hitter Austin Norrell and catcher Michael Adkins started Middle Tennessee's second inning with back-to-back singles and Norrell put the Blue Raiders in front 4-2 when he scored on an RBI double from Jarreau. The three-straight hits chased Weins on a planned staff day and the Tops turned to junior Josh Bartley to get out of a jam with runners on second and third base with no outs. Bartley limited the damage to a run on Ronnie Jebavy's sacrifice fly and recorded back-to-back strikeouts to keep MT's lead at 5-2.
Bartley worked four-straight scoreless innings to hold WKU within striking distance of the Blue Raiders, but he was chased in the sixth inning after surrendering three-straight singles to the top of MT's order. Jebavy's RBI single scored Jarreau, pushed the Blue Raider lead to 6-2 and forced the Tops to call senior Brandon Allen from the bullpen. Allen inherited two runners and nearly got out of the jam with a double-play ball, but shortstop Austin Bryant was able to beat out Clarkson's throw for an RBI fielders' choice.
The Hilltoppers had a couple of chances to cut into Middle Tennessee's 7-2 lead but situational execution was elusive. WKU stranded eight runners on base and was just 2-for-10 with runners in scoring position.
The Blue Raiders loaded the bases against Allen in the seventh inning and Jebavy capitalized with a two-run single to extend MT's lead to its final advantage of 9-2. After being held to just a bunt single in his first two games of the series, Jebavy was 2-for-3 with four RBI in the finale.
Weins was tagged for the loss after surrendering five runs on five hits in a full inning of work. WKU was able to rack up seven hits and walked three times against Middle Tennessee lefty Tyler Troutt, but he allowed only two runs to earn his first win of 2015.
Clarkson sparked the Hilltopper offense with three hits, an RBI and a walk while Duckworth and Hudzina added a pair of hits. The trio combined to tally seven of WKU's eight hits in the contest.
The Hilltoppers have now been swept in back-to-back weekends for the first time since dropping three games to both Arkansas State and South Alabama in March 1995. Four of the six defeats have come by a margin of one run. They'll try to bounce back in their final midweek game of the season Tuesday at Lipscomb before visiting Marshall in a pivotal three-game league series next weekend.
