LEXINGTON, Ky. — Within one strike of an upset of No. 7 Kentucky, WKU Baseball was unable to get out the final out of the ninth inning in a 4-3 loss to the Wildcats on Tuesday evening.
Lefty starter Evan Acosta spun a gem, going six-plus scoreless innings with three strikeouts. He allowed only three singles, walked two and hit three batters, but he kept the home team at bay for 94 pitches, 58 of them strikes.
The Hilltoppers got the scoring started in the second inning, when Colie Currie led off with a double down the left-field line. He was bunted over to third and then trotted home on a deep sacrifice fly by Tyler Robertson to the warning track in left field.
In the fifth, the No. 6 hitter Robertson singled and Ray Zuberer III followed with a line-drive homerun off the right-field foul pole. After initial confusion by the umpires, it was ruled the ball cleared the fence and the sophomore designated hitter completed his trip around the bases to give the Hilltoppers a 3-0 lead.
It was the second career homerun for Zuberer, his first coming in a 4-3 vs. Valparaiso - the second game of the 2017 season. That solo shot 374 days ago was also in the fifth inning.
WKU got no more runs the rest of the way, but relievers Conner Boyd and Austin Tibbs combined to put up zeroes in the seventh and eighth. Shortstop Kevin Lambert started a double play in each of those frames to help keep the Hilltopper advantage at three.
Righty reliever Ben Morrison, who had retired all eight batter he had faced coming into the ballgame, started out with a swinging strikeout of Kole Cottam. But then the Kentucky bats woke up. Ryan Johnson hit a solo homerun to right field and Luke Heyer dribbled a single to third base.
Still, Morrison got Ryan Smith to lift a lazy fly ball to center field for the second out. But after a Trey Dawson double and Troy Squires single, it was tied 3-3. Morrison was lifted after 24 pitches - 22 strikes - following a two-out fielding error.
With Wildcats on first and second, it was lefty Ryan Thurston who was asked to strand the potential game-winning run. A wild pitch and a passed ball later, Squires crossed home for a 4-3 win.
Up Next
WKU returns home for a Friday-to-Sunday, three-game set with West Virginia. The Hilltoppers and Mountaineers get started with first pitch at 3 p.m. on March 2. It will be the first time in program history an opponent in the Big 12 plays a series at Nick Denes Field.
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