BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — Despite five combined hits from Luke Brown and Steven Kraft, WKU Baseball fell by a score of 10-6 vs. FIU on Friday afternoon. Colie Currie and Kevin Lambert each went 2-for-4; Lambert scored two runs, while Currie drove in a pair.
Kraft went 2-for-4 with a walk and three RBI, while Brown went 3-for-5 with two runs scored; each also added a stolen base. Entering the weekend as the top two hitters for batting average in Conference USA games, Kraft went from .404 to .408, while Brown improved from .400 to .410.
Making the final home start of his Hilltopper career, lefty Ryan Thurston went struck out six in six innings.
Already No. 2 on the career innings rankings in WKU history, the senior eclipsed the 300 mark after the first frame and ended his outing at 305. As for punchouts, the six against the Panthers gives him 297 for his career; Thurston will have a chance to get to 300 next weekend at Florida Atlantic.
Thurston did allow five runs on seven hits and four walks, but exited with a chance to win after the Hilltoppers took a 6-5 lead in the bottom of the sixth.
Already with a two-run single earlier in the game in the third frame, Kraft came up big with a two-out RBI single in the sixth that scored Chase Larsen from second base and gave the Hilltoppers a one-run lead after it was tied 5-5 going into the inning.
It was their second lead of the day, having earlier responded from a 2-0 deficit to tie the game on Kraft's first hit, then again fighting back from a 4-2 hole with three runs in the fifth frame. Currie came up with a two-run single in that inning with runners on second and third with one out, rolling a grounder through the right side that gave WKU a 5-4 advantage at the time.
Visiting starter, righty Andres Nunez, allowed six runs on 10 hits in six innings, striking out six and walking a pair. However, he would hang around long enough to get a win in the high-scoring contest.
A key play for Nunez was to end the sixth frame with WKU still threatening. Jacob Rhinesmith hit a ground ball to the right side that was smothered by first baseman Logan Allen. The toss was low for the pitcher covering, but he lunged to scoop the throw while keeping his foot on the base for the third out.
After that, the Panthers rallied. Following an infield single and strikeout to begin the top of the seventh, Conner Boyd came in to relieve Michael Martin to face FIU's Eddie Garcia. On the seventh pitch of the at-bat, Garcia lifted a homerun off Boyd that cleared the left-field fence for the 7-6 lead.
The Panthers added three more on a two-out Logan Allen homerun in the eighth off Jacob Green. After starting the frame with a pair of strikeouts, Seth Canaday and Derek Cartaya singled to bring up Allen.
Michael Darrell-Hicks was the lone unscathed pitcher for the Hilltoppers, tossing a perfect ninth inning with one strikeout.
Topper Quotes
"Give FIU credit, they're an excellent offensive club and we talked about trying to limit the damage. We were in that game and all of the sudden, five runs on two swings of the bat and that was the difference. We didn't execute in those situations, and we have to be better than that." — Head coach John Pawlowski
Up Next
Lefty Troy Newell and righty Tyler Myrick face off for Game 2 tomorrow, which begins at 1 p.m. at Nick Denes Field. Admission will be free for all fans.
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