Game Notes (EKU) | WKUSports.tv | Live Stats
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — A week removed from WKU Baseball's highest-scoring game of the season, the Hilltoppers face a team that edged them in a similar slugfest two months ago.
Eastern Kentucky comes to town for a 5 p.m. first pitch at Nick Denes Field, as the hosts hope to even the season series at 1-1 after a 16-15, extra-inning loss in Richmond on March 8. In that game, Steven Kraft had his first multi-homerun performance and tied career highs with four runs batted in and three scored.
Prior to a series sweep at Louisiana Tech this past weekend, WKU played in its wildest game this year April 25 at Austin Peay. The Hilltoppers beat the Governors by a score of 22-17, becoming just the fourth team Division I team to blast eight homeruns in a game in 2017. Kevin Lambert, Thomas Peter and Wyatt Featherston went deep twice apiece, while Kaleb Duckworth and Tyler Robertson each sent one over the fence.
Jackson Sowell picked up the win for WKU against Austin Peay a week ago, pitching three innings of shutout baseball with a career-high seven strikeouts.
Sowell suffered a tough-draw loss to the Colonels in the first meeting, allowing a walk-off hit to Alex Holderbach with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 10th. It was only one frame after the righty reliever struck out Logan Stephens with the bases loaded in the ninth to force extra innings in the first place.
While it was Jeff Ciocco against Casey Collins in the first matchup, both teams have different starting pitchers scheduled to go Tuesday evening. It will be a duel of lefties, as the Hilltoppers have Evan Acosta - who will make his ninth start of the year - while EKU's Jack Piekos starts for the 11th time.
Acosta has gone seven-plus innings allowing two or fewer runs in 3-of-8 starts for WKU, more than the rest of the pitching staff combined. Piekos, meanwhile, leads the Colonels with 52.1 innings pitched, 58 strikeouts and a .240 batting average against.
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