BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — In the first-ever meeting on the diamond between WKU and West Virginia, the Mountaineers defeated the Hilltoppers by a score of 7-5 on Friday evening at Nick Denes Field. WKU led 4-2 after seven frames, with 6.1 strong innings from starter Ryan Thurston and a 4-for-4 on-base day by Colie Currie, but a four-run West Virginia eighth gave the visitors the lead for good.
The lefty Thurston was not his usual strikeout self - recording only four after seven and nine over his first two starts, respectively - but still posted his third start of five-plus innings with two or fewer runs allowed to open his 2018 campaign. He threw 102 pitches - 57 for strikes - and worked around 10 baserunners to lower his season ERA from 2.38 to 2.04.
The Mountaineers scored an unearned run in the second to take a 1-0 lead, and the score stayed that way until the Hilltopper half of the fourth. Colin Butkiewicz belted a 1-0 pitch over the wall in right-center to score Tyler Robertson with two out and flip the script and give WKU the lead. It was Butkiewicz's first homerun as a Hilltopper and the team's second-consecutive game with a two-run blast.
West Virginia came right back in the next frame with a two-out run of their own, when Brandon White singled in Andrew Zitel. WKU responded with a leadoff single from Jacob Rhinesmith, who was bunted to second by Chase Larsen, then driven in with a triple down the right-field line by Currie. Sam McElreath followed with a sacrifice fly to left-center to give the Hilltoppers a 4-2 advantage.
And it stayed that way until the eighth, when the top of the Mountaineer lineup greeted lefty reliever Austin Tibbs with a triple, double and single. Conner Boyd came in to try and strand runners on the corners with no outs, but pinch-hitter Chase Illig hit a three-run homerun to right-center for a 6-4 lead.
WKU did not go away, as Robertson led off the Hilltopper eighth with a double and scored on a Luke Brown single. But Brown was caught stealing during the following at-bat to end the inning.
The Mountaineers stretched their lead back to two with a Darius Hill solo shot in the ninth, then WKU (5-5) was retired by West Virginia (3-5) righty reliever Sam Kessler in order in the bottom half to end the contest.
Topper Notes
- Hilltopper starting pitchers have gone six-plus innings in 5-of-6 starts since the beginning of last weekend's four-game series vs. Northern Illinois. Through 10 games, WKU starters have allowed more than two runs only once.
- After allowing only 13 extra-base hits through the first nine games, the Hilltoppers gave up seven to West Virginia (four doubles, one triple and two homeruns).
- A pair of homeruns by the Mountaineers in the eighth and ninth innings matched the number by WKU opponents through the first 85 innings of the season.
- Jacob Rhinesmith went 3-for-5 with three singles for his first-career three-hit game. The 2017 Second Team NJCAA All-American transfer leads the Hilltoppers with five multi-hit performances.
- Sam McElreath went 0-for-2 in the game, but extended his on-base streak to seven when he was hit by pitch in the first inning. The Brenham, Texas, native has reached base in every game he has started.
- Colie Currie became the third WKU player (Ray Zuberer III at Memphis and Dillon Nelson vs. Belmont and Northern Illinois) to have at least four plate appearances and reach base every time. He went 2-for-2 with a pair of walks, while adding his second stolen base.
- Colin Butkiewicz leads the Hilltoppers with seven RBI despite being the No. 9 hitter in the lineup. Along with a two-run homerun Friday, the catcher has a two-run double at Memphis and a two-run double vs. Northern Illinois in his resume of multi-RBI hits.
Play of the Day
With a 4-2 lead in the sixth inning, Ryan Thurston had to work out of a jam to keep it that way. After loading the bases with a pair of walks, the graduate senior from Madison, Ind., fought through a 3-2 count against West Virginia's Andrew Zitel to produce a soft liner in the infield.
Second baseman Tyler Robertson caught the ball and flipped to shortstop Kevin Lambert for the inning-ending double play. Typically a reserved character on the mound, Thurston erupted in excitement in the direction of his middle infielders.
Up Next
Game 2 of the series pins Hilltopper righty Colby Taylor against Mountaineer righty Alek Manoah, with first pitch at 1 p.m. on Saturday afternoon. Taylor (1-0) entered the weekend as 1-of-15 pitchers in the country with at least 11.2 innings and zero runs allowed. A two-way player, Manoah saw time at first base in the opener, going 0-for-1 with a pop out to right field and three put outs. On the mound this season, he is 0-2 with a 5.62 ERA.
