GAME NOTES (PDF)
LIVE STATS (all games)
AUDIO: DHÂ | G3
VIDEO: G1Â | G2
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — With an opportunity to match its best league start in 10 years, WKU Baseball hosts Charlotte at Nick Denes Field. Due to weather concerns on Saturday, the three-game series will feature a doubleheader on Friday, March 29 starting at 3 p.m., then the finale on Sunday, March 31 at 12 p.m.
It will be righty Eric Crawford and lefty Troy Newell for the Hilltoppers in the doubleheader, while the 49ers will send righties Matt Brooks and Bryce McGowan to the bump.
The Hilltoppers enter the series having won three games in a row, sporting a 12-11 overall record and a 5-1 Conference USA mark. WKU boasts its best six-game start in league play since 2013 in the Sun Belt Conference. The 2009 club began its league season with an 8-1 record through nine games.
SERIES HISTORY
- Charlotte holds a 5-3 advantage in the all-time series, having won 5-of-6 games against the Hilltoppers over the past two seasons as C-USA foes.
- The 49ers swept WKU in a three-game set in 2017, then took 2-of-3 from the Hilltoppers in Charlotte in 2018.
- Previously, WKU twice defeated the 49ers by a score of 9-4 in Charlotte in 1987, then by a score of 10-2 in the 1988 SBC Tournament.
WKU PREVIEW
- WKU past week recaps: FRIDAY at FIU (L, 1-2) | SATURDAY at FIU (W, 5-4)Â | SUNDAY at FIU (W, 15-1 [7])Â | TUESDAY at Eastern Kentucky (W, 12-9)
- Right fielder Jake Sanford was named Conference USA Hitter of the Week on Monday, the seventh WKU player to earn the award over the past five years. (STORY).
- Over the past two games, Sanford has gone 6-for-11 with five homeruns, nine runs scored and 15 batted in over his past two games. That's a slash line of .545/.545/2.000 while accounting for 19 of the Hilltoppers' 27 runs scored.
- For the season, Sanford has 12 homeruns — which is tied for third in Division I and is more than 114 teams by himself. He is tied for eighth in the nation with 35 runs batted in, tied 28th with 29 runs scored. He also ranks seventh with a .846 slugging percentage and sixth with 77 total bases.
- On Friday, pitchers Eric Crawford and Dalton Shoemake combined to allow only two runs in eight innings, but FIU lefty Logan Allen spun 8.2 frames of one-run ball to defeat the Hilltoppers by a score of 2-1.
- On Saturday, WKU rallied from a 4-2 deficit after eight innings to score three runs in the top of the ninth and win by a score of 5-4. Hilltopper lefty Troy Newell had career-highs of 7.1 innings pitched and nine strikeouts, while only walking one and allowing two earned runs.
- On Sunday, WKU defeated the Panthers 15-1 in seven innings to record the team's first run-rule victory since a 17-2 win — also at FIU — on April 19, 2015. Hilltopper righty Reece Calvert pitched a complete game, facing the minimum and keeping FIU off the board in the last six frames.
- The Hilltoppers allowed only seven runs against the Panthers, the fewest allowed in a three-game series since March 25-27, 2016, vs. Middle Tennessee, when WKU allowed only six runs.
- WKU is 10-4 this season when holding opponents to six or fewer runs, 11-1 when scoring five or more runs and 7-2 when scoring first.
- The Hilltoppers 6-2 in one-run games, 5-0 when their starting pitcher goes five-plus innings and 8-2 when out-hitting their opponent.
CHARLOTTE PREVIEW
- Charlotte past week recaps: FRIDAY vs. Marshall (L, 6-12) | SATURDAY vs. Marshall (L, 4-5) | SUNDAY vs. Marshall (W, 8-5) | TUESDAY vs. Clemson (L, 5-8)
- The 49ers enter the series with an 11-13 overall record and a 3-3 C-USA mark after taking 2-of-3 in the league-opening series from Old Dominion, then falling in 2-of-3 to the Thundering Herd last weekend.
- Catcher Harris Yett rides a 12-game hit streak into the series, hitting a team-best .385 at the plate. Over the last 10 games, Yett has hit .436 at the plate, including .444 in the last five. Second baseman Carson Johnson leads the team with nine multi-hit games on the year. In his first year in C-USA, Johnson has a .320 average through the first six games of league play and sports a .415 average in his last 10 overall.
- Relievers Colby Bruce and Patrick Szczypinski have anchored the 49ers bullpen in recent weeks. Over the last 10 contests, Bruce has a pair of saves and a 1.23 ERA with 10 strikeouts over 7.1 innings. Szczypinski holds a 2.16 ERA with eight strikeouts over his last 8.1 innings of work.
- Junior righty Matt Brooks will be back on the bump in Friday's series-opener after missing the past three weeks due to injury. Brooks had a 3-0 record and a 1.40 ERA in three starts to open the 2019 season.
PROMOTIONS
- Military Appreciation Weekend: All military personnel will receive free admission with valid identification on both days.
- Friday Doubleheader: One ticket will be good for admission to both contests.
- Sunday: Free American flag t-shirts for the first 100 fans in attendance.
- Sunday Funday: Children aged 12 and under receive free admission, and a kid's lunch special that includes a hot dog, bag of chips and can of soda will be $5. After the game, children are invited to run the bases with Big Red.
Flexible season ticket packages are now available for purchase, including 30 tickets for $50 that can be used at any of the 29 home games throughout the 2019 campaign. Fans can purchase tickets HERE, by calling 1-800-5-BIGRED or in person at the WKU Ticket Office during business hours.
