BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — A pair of bases-loaded hits nearly propelled WKU Baseball to complete a comeback against Middle Tennessee, but the visitors held on for an 8-7 victory on Saturday afternoon. A Colie Currie triple in the fourth and a Steven Kraft double in the eighth were the big, three-run knocks for the Hilltoppers in Game 2 of the weekend series.
WKU trailed 4-0 after the first inning on two hits, two walks and a two-out error that allowed two more Blue Raiders to score. Middle Tennessee added another in the second with a two-out walk and double that brought in another run off starter Colby Taylor.
The Hilltoppers got going in the bottom of the second when a ground out by Kevin Lambert scored Luke Brown from third base. Brown used his speed to leg out an infield single to lead off the inning, he also reached on a walk and hit by pitch in the contest.
The bottom of the WKU lineup got things started in the fourth, as Colin Butkiewicz led off with a double to the alley and Lambert followed with a single to center. After a pair of fly outs, Kraft drew his second walk of the game to bring up Currie.
The senior left fielder pulled a 2-1 pitch down the right-field line and slid head-first into third base with his second triple of the year. It looked like the Hilltoppers might tie it up on the next pitch, but a Tyler Robertson line drive carried out to Middle Tennessee left fielder Blake Benefield.
Now down to a 5-4 deficit, the Blue Raiders (11-8) were able to add one in each of the fifth, sixth and eighth innings, however, to push their lead back to 8-4.
In the eighth, Butkiewicz worked a leadoff walk off Middle Tennessee reliever Andy Wright. Ray Zuberer III and Jacob Rhinesmith grounded singles through the infield to load the bases for Kraft.
The Blue Raiders made a switch to Blake Stansberry and Kraft greeted him with an opposite-field double that scored all three Hilltoppers.
Reliever Conner Boyd posted a scoreless outing, as the senior sidewinder came in to get the final five outs for WKU (9-10) with a pair of strikeouts to set the table for a ninth-inning rally. Pinch hitter Richard Constantine led off with a single to right field, but a strikeout and 6-4-3 double play closed out a 8-7 win for the visitors.
Topper Notes
- WKU lost its third straight game despite out-hitting its opponent in each contest. Coming into the week, the Hilltoppers were 7-1 when out-hitting their opponent.
- WKU drew five walks on Saturday after eight on Friday. The 13 free passes are the most for the Hilltoppers in a two-game stretch this season.
- Middle Tennessee clinched it first series win at Nick Denes Field since 2005. In the past six series in Bowling Green, WKU had swept the Blue Raiders three times and won 2-1 three times.
- Since allowing a homerun vs. West Virginia on March 2, Conner Boyd has had four straight scoreless appearances. The righty has thrown five scoreless with five strikeouts in that span, allowing only two hits.
- Kevin Lambert had his second consecutive multi-hit game, going 2-for-5 with one run and another driven in. With seven assists from the shortstop position, he tied a career-high he had vs. UAB on March 19, 2017.
- Steven Kraft went 2-for-3 with a pair of walks to extend his team-leading hit streak to eight games. With his bases-clearing double, the second baseman posted his fourth multi-RBI game of the season, and 14th of his career.
- With his bases-clearing triple, Colie Currie posted his third multi-RBI game of the season, and 10th of his career. Currie also stole his team-leading sixth base of the year, which was his third of the series.
- Jacob Rhinesmith went 2-for-5 for his 10th multi-hit game of the year. Colin Butkiewicz went 2-for-4 with two runs scored, his fifth multi-hit performance and third multi-run effort.
Up Next
Game 3 between the Hilltoppers and Blue Raiders will get started at 1 p.m. on Sunday, March 18. Coming off his second career complete game, Paul Kirkpatrick of WKU faces off against Peyton Wigginton from Middle Tennessee.
