BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – In the opening game of the pivotal Conference USA series, WKU (24-25, 10-15 C-USA) fell victim to Marshall's (28-17, 17-8 C-USA) powerful hitting in an 8-1 defeat at Nick Denes Field on Friday night.
The two squads will return to The Nick on Saturday for Game 2 of the series at 1 p.m. CT. Fans can listen to the contest locally in Bowling Green on 1450 AM and 102.7 FM or online at WKUSports.tv.
Coming into the weekend ranked second in C-USA in home runs, Marshall lived up to the billing as the Thundering Herd used three long balls to score five of their eight runs on the night. The Hilltoppers finished with seven hits on the night, which were all singles, compared to a Herd squad that went for extra bases on six of its 10 total hits.
Kaleb Duckworth and Danny Hudzina were bumped up to the top two spots in the order, and the duo combined for four hits and three walks in the contest. Duckworth reached base four times on a pair of hits and walks in his first start in the leadoff role, while Hudzina followed him with two hits of his own and a walk.
There were early opportunities for the Tops to respond after giving up a leadoff homer to Marshall in the first, leaving two runners on base in the third and the bases loaded in the bottom of the fourth. After the Herd plated five runs over the fourth, fifth and sixth innings, WKU stranded two in the bottom half of the six as the Hilltoppers left 13 total on base in the game.
Paul Murray would come around for the WKU score in the sixth after his single up the middle. Following a walk by Steven DiPuglia, Leiff Clarkson looped a single into right to plate Murray from second. Clarkson had a productive game offensively, reaching base three times on a pair of walks and his RBI single. DiPuglia also secured a hit in the game, pushing his season-long hitting streak to nine games, which is also the longest active streak on the team.
The Hilltoppers used four pitchers on Friday as Sam Higgs, Logan Weins and Cody Coll all made relief appearances after starter Ryan Thurston was replaced in the fourth inning. The quartet combined to strike out 10 batters on the night, with seven of those coming from Thurston. Coll had the best showing as he closed out the final 1.2 innings with shutout baseball.
With the loss, the Hilltoppers fell into a four-way tie for the final two spots of the C-USA Baseball Championships as FIU and Charlotte each picked up wins. UAB, the other team holding a share of eighth, will host the Panthers on Saturday for Game 2 of that series, while the 49ers are on the road at UTSA.
