Freshman Brown Nets 4 Hits in Series-Opening Loss

Friday, May 4

Charlotte, N.C.

5:00 PM

Western Kentucky University

20-25, 10-12

Charlotte

26-19, 12-10

WKU

Charlotte

Photo by: WKU Athletics

5/4/2018 8:30:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Luke Brown tied a career high with four hits, but WKU Baseball fell in the opening game at Charlotte by a score of 4-2.

With a 4-for-5 game, the freshman pushed his overall batting average to .346 and his mark in Conference USA games to a team-high .395. The Bowling Green native has 14 multi-hit performances in the past 23 games.

Lefty starters Troy Newell and Josh Maciejewski traded zeroes for the first two frames before the Hilltoppers struck in the third.

With the bases loaded and no outs, Jacob Rhinesmith hit a deep sacrifice fly to center field that allowed Kevin Lambert to scamper home from third base. Making his 100th career start, Lambert extended his hit streak to a career-high six games with a leadoff double in the inning.

Newell was scoreless through the fourth, which allowed WKU to take a 2-0 lead in the top of the fifth. With two out and runners on first and second, Brown was hung out to dry on a spin-around pickoff move, but Maciejewski threw errantly to third baseman Jackson Mims. Brown scored on the throwing error, that would have ended the inning with three outs.

The 49ers got one run in the bottom of that frame, when Mims blooped a two-out single to center field, then scored three in the sixth to take the lead from the Hilltoppers.

In-between, Chase Larsen was robbed of a homerun by left fielder Drew Ober in the top of the sixth that would have given WKU a 3-1 lead with a dozen outs to go.

Ober led off the bottom of that inning with a single and came around to score after a sacrifice bunt and a pair of wild pitches by Newell. After a one-out walk, the lefty was lifted for reliever Conner Boyd. The senior was greeted with a double that scored the inherited run and an infield single, then Charlotte scored its fourth tally on a safety squeeze.

Reliever Michael Martin got the final out of the sixth and pitched a scoreless seventh, then Maddex Richardson struck out the side in the eighth to keep it a 4-2 deficit.

The Hilltoppers rallied in the ninth when pinch hitter Richard Constantine and Brown singled to put the potential game-tying run on base, but Steven Kraft popped out against reliever Jonah Patten to end the game.

Kraft went 1-for-3 in the game with a pair of walks, pushing his on-base mark to .514 in C-USA action.

Up Next
Lefty Ryan Thurston and righty Matt Brooks face off for Game 2 tomorrow, which begins at 1 p.m. CT from Hayes Stadium.