WKU Game Notes (PDF)
Game 4 Info: Tickets | Video | Audio | Stats
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — Coming off a 1-2 weekend in Memphis, WKU Baseball returns home for a five-game week at Nick Denes Field. The Hilltoppers begin the slate with the Home Opener against Belmont on Tuesday, Feb. 20 with first pitch at 3 p.m. The first 250 fans in attendance will receive a 2018 schedule magnet, as weather forecasts show a potential high of 78 degrees and a partly sunny afternoon.
Midweek Preview
WKU has won 5-of-7 games against the Bruins dating back to midway through the 2014 season, including four consecutive contests played at Nick Denes Field. But the overall series, with the teams' first matchup in 1954, stands as a 24-22 Belmont advantage.
In 2017, the Bruins hosted the teams' first midweek game of the season Feb. 22 and won by a score of 11-3. But only two weeks later, on March 7, the Hilltoppers earned the split with a 3-2 win in Bowling Green. In that contest, former infielder Grayson Ivey blasted a pinch-hit, walk-off double with one out in the ninth inning to score Marshall Smith from third base for the game-winning run. Lefty Evan Acosta started for WKU and went seven innings while allowing only two earned runs, while Conner Boyd earned his first career victory with a four-up, four-down outing with two strikeouts.
This is the first game of a home-and-home midweek series against the Bruins, which will see WKU make a return trip to E.S. Rose Park overlooking Nashville on March 6.
Weekend Recap
The Hilltoppers got a five-frame, one-run start from Ryan Thurston and a 5.1-inning, scoreless outing by Colby Taylor at Memphis, but were only able to come away with one win in those two games. WKU then fell 7-1 in the series finale Sunday afternoon.
On Opening Day, Thurston was issued a tough-luck loss in the 4-0 Tigers' win. The senior lefty struck out seven, allowed only four hits and walked three. He threw 57-of-91 pitches for strikes and produced a 5-to-2 ground out-to-fly out ratio. Although WKU out-hit Memphis 8-to-7, the Hilltoppers left 12 on base and were unable to get a run across.
In Game 1 of the Sunday doubleheader, Taylor allowed only two hits in 5.1 frames of work. Although he walked five, he did not allow a Tiger past second base. In the second inning, Tyler Robertson singled in scored Jacob Rhinesmith for WKU's first run of the season. Then in the seventh, Colin Butkiewicz hit a two-out, two-run double to give the Hilltoppers all the insurance they would need, as Ben Morrison and the bullpen were able to close out the 3-1 victory.
In Game 2 of the Sunday doubleheader, Memphis got out to a 7-0 lead in the first three innings on the way to a 7-1 win. Rhinesmith hit a solo homerun in the fourth frame for WKU's lone tally, the team's first homerun of the season. Devon Loomis led the way out of the bullpen, throwing 3.1 scoreless and hitless innings. The senior righty faced 11 batters and retired 10 - the only blemish being a walk - while striking out four.
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