BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — An eight-run eighth inning propelled WKU Baseball to a 13-5 victory over UAB on Friday night, as the team improved to 8-8 in Conference USA play. Eight different WKU players combined for a season-high 21 hits, including a career-high five knocks by Colie Currie.
In a matchup of aces, it was an unexpected score of 2-2 after only the first, as Ryan Thurston and Tanner Graham each allowed a pair.
With the bases loaded in the first frame, Colin Butkiewicz doubled home Currie and Steven Kraft before Luke Brown was thrown out at home for the final out. In the bottom half of the inning, Cole Collins doubled home a run and then scored himself on a wild pitch.
The score stayed that way for the next six frames, as Thurston and Graham both settled in. The Hilltopper lefty avoided allowing another run despite giving up five hits and walking a season-high six batters. Still, he completed six effective innings on a season-high 127 pitches and lowered his 2018 ERA slightly, from 3.15 to 3.13.
Graham gave up nine hits in his first seven innings before coming out for the eighth. Currie greeted him with a single and moved to second on a wild pitch, then Ray Zuberer III drove him in with a single right field. Following a single by Luke Brown to put runners on the corners, the Blazers went to the bullpen and the Hilltoppers broke the game wide open.
Off UAB reliever Riley Davis, Butkiewicz singled in a run and Tyler Robertson worked a walk to load the bases for Nick Brunson. The WKU third baseman greeted new pitcher Isaiah Gonzalez-Montoya with a line-drive single through a shallow infield for a 5-2 lead.
Then up came Kevin Lambert, who crushed the first pitch over the left-field fence for a grand slam and a 9-2 lead for the visitors. It was the sophomore's sixth career homerun, but first of the four-run variety.
Back to the top of the order, Kraft single up the middle to represent the eighth Hilltopper to reach base in the inning before the first out was made. After Currie's fourth hit of the night put runners on the corners, Zuberer drove in Kraft with a sacrifice fly to deep right field and a 10-2 advantage.
The Blazers (16-20, 8-8) did respond with a pair in the bottom half of the frame, but three unearned runs for WKU in the top of the ninth ballooned the lead to nine. UAB pushed across a final run with a pair of hits in their last licks, but the Hilltoppers pushed their overall record to 18-19 with the 13-5 decision.
Topper Notes
- WKU had 21Â hits for the first time since the team also recorded 21 on April 25, 2017, in the 22-17 win at Austin Peay.
- WKU scored eight runs in a single inning for the first time since April 19, 2015, in a 17-2, seven-inning victory at FIU. That game, the Hilltoppers dropped nine on the Panthers in the fifth frame.
- The 13 runs scored against UAB are the third most by WKU in the all-time series. The Hilltoppers defeated the Blazers 15-5 on April 16, 1989, and 14-12 on April 22, 1984. WKU is 16-0 against UAB when scoring nine-plus runs.
- The 13 runs scored in a Conference USA game is the most by the Hilltoppers since a 14-10 victory over UTSA on April 23, 2015.
- With a 7-7 record on the road, WKU matched its total from the 2015 season, when the team went 7-19 in such games. With two wins in the doubleheader on Saturday, the Hilltoppers would match their C-USA win total from 2015 as well, when the team finished 10-20 in league play.
- Michael Martin took to the mound tied 2-2 in the bottom of the seventh and spun a 1-2-3 frame before WKU's eight-run outburst. The graduate transfer earned his second win of the season, improving to 2-1.
- Colie Currie became the first Hilltopper to have five hits in a game since Ryan Church had six at FIU on April 19, 2015. He came around to score twice, notching his 16th career multi-run game in the process.
- Luke Brown had a career-high four hits at the plate and a career-high five put outs in right field. The freshman improved his season batting average to .311 and his Conference USA batting average to a team-best mark of .371.
- Steven Kraft had three hits for the sixth time this season and scored three runs for the fourth time in 2018. His performance marked his 43rd career multi-hit game and 24th career multi-run game.
- Ray Zuberer III had three hits for the third time this season and tied a career-high with three RBI for the third time in 2018. He extended his team-best on-base streak to nine games.
- Nick Brunson notched his second multi-hit and multi-run games in his eighth consecutive start at third base. Colin Butkiewicz recorded his sixth multi-RBI game of the season, but first in which he had three driven in.
Up Next
With probable rain on Sunday, WKU and UAB will conclude the weekend series with a doubleheader on Saturday, April 21, starting at 2 p.m. It will be the fifth doubleheader of the season for the Hilltoppers, who have two splits and two sweeps in the previous four. Starting pitchers for both teams are TBA at this time.
