BOWLING GREEN, Ky. -- After a win in the series opener, WKU (10-5) secured a 2-1 series win over Albany (5-8) by splitting the Saturday doubleheader, with the Hilltoppers claiming a convincing, 12-2, win in the first of two games before dropping the final game of the weekend, 7-4.
Game 1 Box Score 
| Game 2 Box Score | Photo Gallery
Coach Pawlowski Postgame Interview
WKU scored a season-high 12 in Game 1 on Saturday on nine hits, with half of those runs coming in a six-run fifth inning. Both teams recorded nine hits in the game, but the Hilltoppers were able to take advantage of four errors by the Great Danes. Albany was able to avoid the sweep in the series finale by out-hitting WKU 15-9, which were the most hits allowed by the Tops in 2016.
With WKU leading 4-1 in the first game on Saturday, John Pawlowski's squad would convert three hits into six runs in the all-important bottom of the fifth to blow the game open. Thomas Peter smacked the biggest knock of the ballgame as he roped a double into the corner in left field to clear the bases, scoring Steven Kraft, Steven DiPuglia and Ty Downing on the play.
Danny Hudzina followed with a sacrifice fly in the very next at-bat to score Peter, while Harrison Scanlon and Paul Murray both also came home to score earlier in the inning. Posting a hit in each game of the series, Hudzina extended his hitting streak to a career-high 20 games, becoming the first Hilltopper to string together a hitting streak of at least 20 games since Matt Rice registered a hit in 31 straight in 2009. He finished with four hits and four runs on the weekend.
Another player who had a productive weekend with his bat was Duckworth, who went 7-for-12 with three doubles, three runs, two RBI and gunned down a runner at the plate for an outfield assist. For the season, he is now batting .407 to go along with a .627 slugging percentage on 24 hits and 16 runs driven in. Peter posted three RBI in Saturday's triumph and added another in the second game of the day to push his season total to a team-high 20, which is just one RBI shy of tying his total from his first three seasons combined.
WKU's starting pitcher in Game 1, Ryan Thurston, earned his second victory of the season after going 5.2 innings, allowing only two runs and striking out six. After giving up a run on five hits in the first three innings, Thurston was able to settle down to squander just two hits in his final 2.2 innings of work. Freshman Micah Kaczor picked up the first save of his career after tossing 3.1 shutout innings to close out the win.
On Saturday, the Hilltoppers used three freshmen out of the bullpen, with Caleb Bruner and Evan Acosta throwing in the second game. The trio combined for 8.2 innings of relief and only squandered two runs total. Josh Bartley drew the start on the mound in Game 2 and received his first loss of the season.
With Albany leading 7-1 heading into the bottom of the ninth in Game 2, WKU scored three runs in the inning to try to get a late rally going. A Peter single brought home Kraft before an error allowed Grant Malott to score. Duckworth then delivered an RBI single to score Peter to bring the tying runner to the plate, but the Hilltoppers could not keep the comeback going.
WKU will travel to play in-state rival Kentucky on Tuesday, March 15, at 3 p.m. CT, with the game to be shown live from Lexington, Kentucky, on SEC Network+ and on the WatchESPN app.
