BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — Riding high from a walk-off win the night before, WKU Baseball suddenly found itself in a 5-0 deficit to UAB in the top of the first without recording an out. But eight scoreless frames by the Hilltopper pitching staff later, it was the Blazers who could not secure the final out.
Dillon Nelson's hit to left field scored Davis Sims with the game-winning run in an improbable 6-5 victory for WKU, who scored the final six runs of the game and tallied a second-straight walk-off win over UAB to begin Conference USA play 2-0.
After a heartbreaking loss on Friday, the Blazers came out hot on Saturday afternoon. Starting with a leadoff homerun by Tyler Tolbert, the first seven hitters reached against starter Hunter Crosby and reliever Collin Lollar to begin the game before the Hilltoppers could escape the first inning facing a 5-0 deficit.
But back came WKU with one run in the second on a sacrifice fly by infielder Sam McElreath and another in the fourth on a single up the middle by shortstop Kevin Lambert to bring the score to within 5-2.
The Hilltoppers got even closer in the seventh, when freshman center fielder Jackson Swiney crushed a two-run homerun over the right-center field wall to score McElreath and make it a one-run deficit for WKU. It was the first long ball of the St. Louis native's career and the first by a freshman on The Hill since Bryson Smith's solo shot in the 2017 finale at FIU on May 20.
All this time, Lollar and the Hilltopper bullpen were dealing. The righty from Columbus, Ind., pitched six innings of one-run ball and allowed only four baserunners after the first inning. Lollar was lifted for lefty Jack Lambert when he walked Tolbert to begin the seventh, but a diving play by McElreath on a pop bunt and a 3-6 double play turned by Sims and Kevin Lambert ended the inning.
Jack Lambert would get one out in the eighth before righty Bailey Sutton spun the final 1.2 frames of scoreless ball for WKU, setting the table for the bottom of the ninth.
Still trailing by one run, McElreath worked a leadoff walk, then Sims' second base hit of the day put runners on first and second for right fielder Jake Sanford. The hero who hit the walk-off homerun in Game 1 did not leave the yard this time, but he slashed a line drive into left field that brought home the tying run to make it a 5-5 ball game.
Standing at 0-for-4 coming into the at-bat, Nelson struck a 2-1 pitch from UAB reliever Tanner Graham over the outstretched glove of the Blazers' left fielder on the warning track. Watching and waiting until the ball hit the turf, Sims hustled home 180 feet and slid in with the game-winning run. The Hilltoppers — who grinded all day — could finally exhale as they chased down Nelson and mobbed him as he rounded first base.
Topper Notes
- With an 8-9 overall record this season and four walk-off wins, half of WKU's victories have been of the walk-off variety.
- The Hilltoppers improved to 5-1 in one-run games, four of those five being the walk-off wins at Nick Denes Field.
- WKU now has four come-from-behind victories on the season, all of them ending up as one-run games in the end.
- WKU held UAB to five runs. The Hilltoppers are 7-3 this season when holding opponents to six or fewer runs.
- WKU has won three-consecutive games in which the starting pitcher has not recorded an out. Both other occurrences in 2017, the Hilltoppers defeated Austin Peay by a score of 22-17 on April 25, then beat Florida Atlantic by a score of 7-6 on May 14.
- Lollar's six-inning performance was the longest of his career, and the longest by any WKU pitcher this season — starter or reliever. He threw a career-high 83 pitches, 50 for strikes, not walking a Blazer until his final batter faced.
- Sutton earned the third win of his career, coming back to the mound in 2019 after missing the 2018 campaign due to injury. Both of his other victories came as a freshman in 2017, against Eastern Kentucky in a 14-3 game on May 2 and against Valparaiso in a 6-5 game on Feb. 17. The win over the Crusaders was also on a walk-off, that being Kaleb Duckworth's two-run homerun on Opening Day to give the Hilltoppers a 6-5 victory.
Topper Quotes
- "We talk about the resolve of this team and the will, you have to believe you're going to find ways to win. We're down 5-0 before we even got our first out, but nobody in the dugout batted an eye. Collin Lollar did an outstanding job, Jack Lambert and Bailey Sutton also came in and got it done for us. And our offense, give them credit, what a tremendous team effort to come back from where we were to find a way to win today." — Head coach John Pawlowski.
- "I thought our team showed a lot of maturity today; where we were to how we came back. Great team win for us and now we have an opportunity to come out for a sweep tomorrow. Two very good, exciting college baseball teams going head-to-head and we've been fortunate to come out on top in both of these so far. We had a great crowd today and beautiful weather; it was awesome to see people down both lines and in the stands." — Head coach John Pawlowski.
- "Our group never gives up, we just kept battling back. It was a tough start, but we knew that our pitchers had to go out there and make UAB make contact and let our defense do some work. We knew we could get back in it ... I knew that I needed to go out there and fill some innings up so our bullpen wouldn't be totally depleted. But I had a feeling that I'd be going a while if I had my stuff today." — Righty Collin Lollar.
Up Next
- WKU and UAB will play Game 3 on Sunday with first pitch at 1 p.m. Starting pitchers for both teams are TBA at this time.
- The game will be hosted by WKU Students for Breast Cancer Awareness; the organization will set up tables at both entrances to the Hilltoppers' venue. Follow them on INSTAGRAM for more information.
- The Hilltoppers are looking for their first sweep of a C-USA opponent since defeating UTSA three times from April 22-24, 2016, at Nick Denes Field. WKU has not started its conference slate with a sweep since defeating Middle Tennessee three times from March 15-16, 2013, to open the Sun Belt portion of the schedule.
