WKU Game Notes (PDF)
Feb. 23 DH Info: Tickets | Video | Audio | Stats
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — Led by one of the best starts by a pitching staff in 33 years, WKU Baseball looks to carry that success into a four-game series vs. Northern Illinois at Nick Denes Field. The Feb. 23-25 set will begin with a Friday doubleheader starting at 1 p.m., with 45 minutes in-between contests; the schedule for the final two games is currently TBA.
This will be the first four-game series for the Hilltoppers since they swept Albany from Feb. 27-to-March 1 in 2009.
On the heels of a 4-1 victory over Belmont in the team's Home Opener on Tuesday, Feb. 20, the 2018 Hilltoppers became only the second team in the past 33 years to allow 13 runs or fewer in the first four contests. The other WKU team to do so was the 2009 club that went 42-20, finished tied for first in the Sun Belt regular season standings and was one win away from advancing to the Super Regionals.
Series Preview
The Hilltoppers are 3-1 all-time against the Huskies, with the wins being a three-game sweep Feb. 25-26, which also included a doubleheader. This year's NIU team started out 2-1 last weekend at Central Arkansas and did not have a midweek game that followed.
Four Husky hitters are at or over the .385 mark in batting average, including outfielder Hunter Bross, who went 4-for-10 (.400) against the Bears with three extra-base hits (two doubles and a homerun). The NIU pitching staff also impressed, allowing only three earned runs (10 total) in the three games. Two of the projected starters, lefty George Faue and righty Michael Lasiewicz, each completed six innings and combined to give up one earned run (five total).
WKU, meanwhile, will look for its pair of starters to double up on their success in the opening Friday doubleheader. Lefty Ryan Thurston and righty Colby Taylor will get the nods, as the two combined to go 10.1 innings and give up only one run at Memphis. Thurston gave up only one run and struck out seven, but was handed a tough-luck loss in the 4-0 defeat on Opening Day. Taylor, meanwhile, shut out the Tigers in his 5.1 frames of work and got the win in a 3-1 team decision.
Midweek Recap
Faced with a 1-0 deficit in the top of the first inning, WKU bounced right back in the bottom half to even up the score against visiting Belmont, when Chase Larsen knocked home Dillon Nelson from third base with a single up the middle. From then on, a combination of eight relievers kept the Bruins off the board. Each Hilltopper pitcher got 2-to-4 out, while none faced more than five batters in his appearance.
Michael Martin posted his third scoreless appearance in the first four games and Michael Darrell-Hicks earned the win, shutting down Belmont in the top of the third inning before WKU broke the 1-1 tie. Larsen also knocked in that run, which would prove to be the game-winner, with an RBI ground out that scored Colin Butkiewicz.
With timely pitching and two more runs added on in the sixth, the Hilltoppers won their fourth-consecutive Home Opener at Nick Denes Field.
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