WKU Game Notes (PDF)
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — The Conference USA season starts this weekend for WKU Baseball, who hosts rival Middle Tennessee for a Friday-to-Sunday series at Nick Denes Field.
First pitch on March 16 between Hilltoppers and Blue Raiders will be at 5 p.m., with game times Saturday and Sunday both at 1 p.m. The Friday and Sunday contests will be streamed on CUSA.tv.
Series History
WKU has won 15-of-18 games vs. Middle Tennessee in Bowling Green since 2008. Of those six series, three were sweeps and three were 2-1 victories.
The Hilltoppers have faced the Blue Raiders more than any other opponent in program history. WKU boasts a 125-103-2 advantage, and the upcoming series will mark the 231st, 232nd and 233rd matchups between the two clubs.
In 2017, the Hilltoppers took 2-of-3 in Murfreesboro. WKU won Game 1 by a score of 10-3 with a six-run second inning and three more in the sixth. Thomas Peter had two homeruns and four RBI, while Colie Currie, Kevin Lambert and Leiff Clarkson all had multi-hit games. Lefty Ryan Thurston pitched 6.1 innings of three-run ball with six strikeouts, then Kevin Elder completed the final 2.2 frames scoreless to clinch the win.
In Game 2 on Saturday, the Hilltoppers scored three runs in the ninth inning to take a 9-6 lead, but the Blue Raiders tied it up in the bottom half with three of their own. In the 10th, a thunderstorm halted play and forced the contest to be completed Sunday morning. When play resumed, Middle Tennessee won, 10-9, in the 11th inning on a Riley Delgado RBI single.
In the series finale, WKU earned a 4-2 victory with 7.2 innings from starter Evan Acosta, who allowed only one earned run, and the final four outs from Elder. Peter went 3-for-4 on the day, including the eventual game-winning, bases-clearing double in the seventh frame to turn a 2-1 deficit into a 4-2 lead. Currie recorded his third multi-hit game of the series.
Series Preview
The Hilltoppers enter C-USA play on the heels of a sweep in their previous weekend series vs. Bowling Green. It was WKU's first sweep of a non-conference opponent since Southern Illinois in 2015.
Pitchers Ryan Thurston, Colby Taylor and Paul Kirkpatrick each went 5.2-plus innings on earned wins in their starts. It was the first time since March 25-27, 2016, vs. Middle Tennessee that the Hilltoppers swept a series while getting wins from three starting pitchers.
That same trio will toe the rubber for the fourth-consecutive weekend, with WKU going a combined 7-4 in their 11 starts this season. The Blue Raiders will respond with lefty Jake Wyrick, righty Carson Lester and lefty Peyton Wigginton.
Middle Tennessee comes in matching the Hilltoppers with a 9-8 overall record. Last weekend, the Blue Raiders hosted West Virginia - who swept WKU at Nick Denes Field the prior week - and took 1-of-3 games from the Mountaineers. And just like WKU, Middle Tennessee has also won 1-of-3 against Memphis this season.
Shortstop L.A. Woodard leads the Blue Raiders in hitting, slashing .360/.484/.480 in 14 starts. Infielders Aaron Aucker (four homeruns, six doubles) and Drew Huff (five homeruns, five doubles) lead the team with 10 extra-base hits apiece.
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