BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — WKU Baseball led from wire-to-wire thanks to a three-run homerun in the first inning and a triple play turned by the defense in the fourth, as the Hilltoppers defeated UAB by a score of 5-3 to sweep the team's Conference USA-opening series at Nick Denes Field.
It was the first sweep to begin league play since defeating Middle Tennessee three times from March 15-16, 2013, to open the Sun Belt portion of the schedule. It was the first sweep of a C-USA opponent since defeating UTSA three times from April 22-24, 2016.
Just as the Blazers jumped out on Saturday, WKU did the same on Sunday.
After a 1-2-3 top of the first by starter Reece Calvert, Jackson Swiney and Davis Sims both singled on the first pitch they saw from UAB starter Tyler O'Clair. Up came right fielder Jake Sanford, who saw ball one go by, then launched his sixth homerun of the year to left-center field to give the Hilltoppers a 3-0 lead only four pitched into the bottom of the first.
After O'Clair walked Richard Constantine and Jack Wilson to follow, he was pulled for righty Riley Davis, who was able to get the Blazers out of the inning without further damage.
UAB fought back with two runs in the third — including a solo homerun from first baseman Thomas Johns — but Calvert was able to strike out cleanup hitter J. Paul Fullerton and keep the tying run stranded on third base to hold a 3-2 lead for WKU.
After catcher Matt Phipps doubled home Constantine with a fourth Hilltopper run in the bottom of the third, Calvert got in some hot water to begin the next frame. With runners on first and second and zero outs, the Plano, Texas, native went 2-0 on the next batter, designated hitter Christian Waltman.
Head coach John Pawlowski went out for a mound visit, and Waltman hit into a triple play on the next pitch. Stationed right near third base, Sam McElreath fielded a two-hopper and stepped on the bag, fired to Jack Wilson at second base, who then turned to first baseman Davis Sims to complete the three-out rally killer.
It was the first triple play turned by WKU since Austin Peay hit into a 3-4 lineout against the Hilltoppers on April 14, 2009.
WKU got an insurance run in the bottom of the fourth, when Sims doubled into the left-field corner with zero outs, which then prompted the Blazers to intentionally walk Sanford. The cleanup hitter Constantine came through with a single through the six hole that brought Sims around to score for a 5-2 lead.
Righty Kenny LaPierre fired a scoreless fifth, then lefty Troy Newell posted zeroes in the sixth and seventh. Reliever Joe Filosa came on in the eighth and allowed one run, but worked a tidy ninth to earn his second save of the season in the 5-3 victory.
Topper Notes
- WKU has swept two of the first five weekends for the first time since 2014, when the Hilltoppers took three games from UNC Asheville from Feb. 21-23, then three games from Illinois from March 8-9.
- After allowing 15 runs to Kentucky in a midweek game on Wednesday, the WKU pitching staff rebounded to allow only 12 runs in the entirety of the series vs. UAB. It was the fewest runs allowed by the Hilltoppers in a home C-USA set since holding Middle Tennessee to six runs in a series sweep from March 25-27, 2015.
- Sims went 4-for-5 on the day with a double and two runs scored. It was his first four-hit game at WKU and third of his collegiate career; the first since March 10, 2018, vs. SIU Edwardsville while he was playing for Murray State. It was the second four-hit game by a Hilltopper this season, matching Sanford's 4-for-5 performance vs. Memphis on March 10.
- Making his third start of the season, Constantine reached base in all four plate appearance, going 2-for-2 with the bat with two walks. In his first start of 2019, vs. Northern Kentucky on Feb. 17, Constantine also reached base in every plate appearance, going 3-for-3 with three walks.
- WKU is 8-3 this season when holding opponents to six or fewer runs and 9-1 when scoring five or more runs.
Topper Quotes
- "I thought our pitchers did an outstanding job. Reece Calvert went out there and pitched well, then both Kenny LaPierre and Troy Newell came in and got it done in situations with guys on base, and Joe Filosa finished that game off. Great job by those guys, they gave us a chance to win. They made big pitches in big situations." — Head coach John Pawlowski.
- "Good things happened to this team this weekend, and I'm proud of the way we played ... We had the same lineup every day with the exception of Richard Constantine today, but he stepped in and did a great job and was on base all four times. Here's a guy who has been waiting in the wings, coming through in some pinch-hit opportunities, and I'm really proud of what he did today." — Head coach John Pawlowski.
- "We have to keep it going, keep the pitchers throwing strikes like we have been and keep the dugout up — that really helped this whole weekend ... [Through the losing streak] we just kept our spirits up and kept doing our work. No one had their head down during that stretch, that's kind of our thing to brush it off and keep that mentality up. Then we came out here like this, the dugout's electricity from the first pitch on Friday to the end carried us to three wins this weekend." — Righty Joe Filosa.
- "The series was great. Pitchers really came out here and stepped up. We know everybody on our pitching staff can come in there and throw strikes, and on offense we just got it done this weekend ... [Losing streaks] are part of baseball. You're sometimes going to run into skids where stuff's not going well for you. A lot of the older guys on the team were preaching to keep on working because we were eventually going to get out of that and this weekend it showed." — First baseman Davis Sims.
Up Next
WKU hosts a midweek game against Austin Peay on Tuesday, March 19, with first pitch from Nick Denes Field at 5 p.m. The Governors are fresh off a series sweep of their own, taking all three games from defending Ohio Valley Conference champions Tennessee Tech in Clarksville, Tenn. Austin Peay stands at 8-9 on the season, which includes a 7-6 midweek win over No. 1 Vanderbilt on Feb. 27 in Nashville.
