WKU Game Notes (PDF)
Game 25 Info: Video | Audio | Stats
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — With WKU Baseball coming off its first-ever Conference USA series win over Rice, the Hilltoppers travel to Richmond, Ky., on Tuesday to take on Eastern Kentucky. First pitch at Earle Combs Stadium will be at 3 p.m. CT.
Starting with the fifth inning of the second game at Rice, the WKU pitching staff has put up 14 consecutive zeroes. Relievers Evan Acosta, Michael Martin and Ben Morrison combined for 5.2 scoreless on Saturday in a 5-4 win, followed by a complete game shutout by righty Paul Kirkpatrick in a 4-0 series finale victory on Sunday.
Midweek Preview
WKU will look to improve its midweek record to 3-3, while the Colonels sport a 3-3 midweek record of their own. After defeating the Hilltoppers 7-5 in the teams' first meeting on March 13, EKU went down to Nashville and beat No. 11 Vanderbilt the next day, 6-5.
Since that week, the Colonels were swept in a three-game set at Mercer, then came back to take 2-of-3 at home against Morehead State. Scheduled midweek games vs. Northern Kentucky and Xavier on March 20 and 21 were canceled due to weather.
EKU sits at 9-15 with a 2-4 record in the Ohio Valley Conference. Shortstop Ryland Kerr (.323/.377/.462) and catcher Alex Holderbach (.302/.398/.488.) pace the Colonels at the plate, both having started all 24 games. Kerr leads the team with 30 hits and 19 runs scored, while Holderbach leads EKU with four homeruns and 21 RBI.
Projected EKU starter, lefty Will Brian, stands at 5-10 and 180 pounds, but put together a strong outing against WKU two weeks ago. He earned the win in three innings of work, giving up only one run on three hits and two walks with zero strikeouts.
The Hilltoppers' starting pitcher remains TBA at this time.
March 13 Recap - EKU 7, WKU 5
Trailing EKU by five runs going into the bottom of the third, WKU almost found a way to rally back, but ultimately fell short by a score of 7-5. Colin Butkiewicz went 3-for-4 with a double and two RBI, extending his team-best hit streak to seven games.
The Hilltoppers and Colonels were tied 1-1 through three innings at Nick Denes Field before the visitors broke open the game with a five-run frame.
Still knotted up with runners on first and second and two out in the top of the fourth, starter Evan Acosta gave way to relievers Devon Loomis and Troy Newell, but four batters later it was a 6-1 game.
The Hilltoppers worked back to a two-run deficit in the eighth, as Chase Larsen got some two-out action going, tucking a ground ball double inside the left-field line on a 2-2 count. Butkiewicz followed with an RBI, line-drive single over the second baseman's leaping effort to cut it to a 7-5 score, where it would ultimately end for WKU.
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