It was the second doubleheader sweep of the season for WKU, who also took two games from Eastern Illinois on Feb. 24 at Nick Denes Field. Overall, the Hilltoppers have won five consecutive games and improved to 14-11 on the season.
Game 1
After starter Eric Crawford fired a 1-2-3 top of the first, WKU struck with four in the bottom half. The big hit was a three-run homerun by designated hitter Dillon Nelson, who lifted his second long ball of the year to right field. Later in the frame, shortstop Kevin Lambert singled home freshman center fielder Jackson Swiney to give the Hilltoppers a 4-0 lead.
But back came the 49ers with four of their own in the next half inning off Crawford, who was unable to complete the second. Lefty Dalton Shoemake came on to relieve with runners on the corners with one out and WKU ahead 4-3. Although he allowed one hit to score the tying run, Shoemake got out of the inning without any further damage.
The first four Hilltoppers reached base in the third frame, as the home team pushed three more runs across. A double by Swiney down the right-field line scored second baseman Jack Wilson, then a two-run single up the middle by Lambert scored catcher Matt Phipps and Swiney to make it a 7-4 game.
From then on out it was Shoemake's show.
The Glasgow native closed out the final 7.2 frames, retiring 22-of-25 batters faced while allowing only three singles. He threw 66-of-95 pitches for strikes and tied a career-high with five punch outs. Even though it was in relief, it marked the longest outing by any WKU pitcher this season.
The Hilltoppers added one more run in the sixth to make it an 8-4 score, as a sacrifice fly by Nelson brought home first baseman Davis Sims, who reached base on a one-out single and moved to third on a base knock by right fielder Jake Sanford.
Topper Notes - G1
- In three relief appearance in Conference USA play, Shoemake has pitched 14.2 innings with a 1.84 earned run average and an 11-to-2 strikeout-to-walk ratio. He has allowed only eight hits and boasts a .167 batting average against.
- Lambert went 2-for-4 with three runs batted in to tie a season-high, previously knocking in three on Feb. 17 vs. Northern Kentucky. The junior from Tampa, Fla., has five multi-hit games this season and WKU is 4-1 in those contests.
- Nelson had four runs batted in, setting a new career-high for the junior from Omaha, Neb. He surpassed his previous best of three, which came vs. Memphis on March 8 of this year.
- Sims went 2-for-4 with a hit by pitch and two runs scored, producing his team-best 10th multi-hit and sixth multi-run performance. His single in the first inning pushed his team-high on-base streak to 20 straight games.
- Swiney went 2-for-4 with a double, marking his first multi-hit game since March 1 vs. North Florida in the Cox Diamond Invitational. He has two doubles in his past three games after hitting only two in his previous 13 games combined.
- The Hilltoppers improved to 9-2 when out-hitting their opponent, 8-2 when scoring first, 5-4 when hitting one homerun, 10-7 when starting a righty and 10-7 in day games (starting before 5 p.m. local time).
Game 2
Coming off the best start of his WKU career, lefty Troy Newell got in trouble in the top of the first. With two outs and one runner on base, the 49ers produced back-to-back RBI hits to take a 3-0 lead. It would have been a 4-0 advantage for the visitors, but left fielder Ray Zuberer III gunned down designated hitter Carter Foster at the plate for the third out.
After recording his sixth outfield assist of the season in Game 1, the Owensboro native started out Game 2 with No. 7.
In the bottom of the first, right fielder Jake Sanford hit his Conference USA-leading 13th homerun of the season — a two-out, solo shot to right field — to put the Hilltoppers on the board. It marked the 13th homerun over the past 16 games for the Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, native, including his sixth in the past four contests.
Charlotte left fielder Drew Ober got the run right back with a solo shot of his own — to left field, on the first pitch of the third inning — as the 49ers increased their lead to 4-1.
But that would be the last time the host trailed on the day, as WKU put a four-spot on the board in the bottom of the third to go ahead by a score of 5-4. The rally started with a solo homerun to right field by Zuberer to start the inning; it was his first long ball of the year and fifth as a Hilltopper.
After that, three straight singles by first baseman Davis Sims, Sanford and designated hitter Dillon Nelson tallied one more for WKU, who got to within 4-3 with no outs. Sacrifice flies by second baseman Jack Wilson and freshman center fielder Jackson Swiney scored Sanford and Nelson, respectively, as the hosts took a one-run lead into the fourth.
As the Hilltoppers added one more run in the fourth to increase their lead to 6-4, Newell saw Charlotte load the bases with one out in the fifth. Righty Collin Lollar came into the tough situation and came out perfect on the other side, striking out a pair of 49ers to strand three baserunners and hold the 6-4 lead.
Lollar allowed one run in the sixth on a wild pitch, then walked his final batter of the night to put runners on the corners for Harris Yett with WKU now ahead 6-5. In trotted righty Bailey Sutton from the bullpen to face Charlotte's leading hitter, and the sophomore from Louisville struck him out on three-straight breaking balls.
Sutton would go on to pitch scoreless seventh and eighth frames as the Hilltoppers added one more runs in each of those frames to extend their lead to a game-best 8-4. After Sutton allowed a leadoff double to Yett to lead off the ninth, he was lifted in favor of righty Joe Filosa.
The WKU closer — having entered the night with three of the team's four saves — walked his first batter faced and struck out the next for the first out. After a single loaded the bases and put the potential go-ahead run on first, Filosa got first baseman Jesse Gonzales to ground into a unique 1-2-3 double play to end the game and clinch the win for the Hilltoppers.
Topper Notes - G2
- Sutton has made three scoreless appearances in Conference USA games and has been rewarded with a 3-0 record in relief. In five innings of work, he has struck out seven while allowing only five hits and one walk.
- Nelson went 1-for-4 with two runs scored and two batted in, pushing his total to 20 on the season to rank second on the Hilltoppers. The cleanup hitter recorded his sixth multi-RBI game in 2019 and is currently on a career-high 11-game on-base streak.
- Sanford went 4-for-5 with two runs scored and two batted in, pushing his Conference USA-leading total to 37 on the season. It was his second four-hit game of the season and the fourth occurrence of a four-hit game for a Hilltopper in 2019. He moved back into the team lead with seven multi-run games, while his seven multi-RBI games are also most on the club.
- Sims went 1-for-3 and was hit by pitch twice for the first time in his collegiate career, extending his team-best on-base streak to 21 straight games. In Conference USA action, he leads WKU with a .438 batting average (14-for-32) and a .538 on-base percentage.
- Although he only went 1-for-4 with the bat, Wilson also reached base twice via walk and hit by pitch on the day. The Elizabethtown native leads WKU with nine times hit by pitch and improved his team-best on-base percentage to .458 on the season.
- Zuberer went 3-for-5 with three runs scored, tying a career-high for the fourth time in his career on The Hill. His three base hits were the most by the junior this season, while seven total bases also tied a career-high, previously posted on March 6, 2018, at Belmont.
- It was WKU's seventh come-from-behind win of the season, all of them seeing the Hilltoppers trail by at least two runs at some point in the game. On the flip side, WKU has lost only one game when it has led after the conclusion of any inning during the contest (March 19 vs. Austin Peay).
- The Hilltoppers improved to 14-1 when scoring five-plus runs, 12-5 when holding opponents to six or fewer runs, 11-5 at home, 12-5 when their opponent starts a righty, 9-2 when their opponent's starter fails to complete five innings and 3-2 when hitting two-plus homeruns.
Topper Quotes
- "Dalton Shoemake was absolutely phenomenal out of the bullpen. He has a chance to start or relieve, he has just been so valuable in a lot of different roles. We put him in there [in the second inning] and he goes ahead and finishes the thing off. Then in Game 2, Collin Lollar and Bailey Sutton came in in big situations and did a great job ... When you have guys like that in the bullpen, it's certainly a lift for us." — Head coach John Pawlowski.
- "I give a lot of credit to our hitters, they just kept chopping wood all day long. There were no easy outs, guys battled up and down the lineup. We were down 3-0 in Game 2 and they don't really bat an eye. Really proud of what we were able to accomplish, especially on the offensive side." — Head coach John Pawlowski.
- "We put really good swings on balls today and the offense was really relentless all day long. It's hard to come out and play 18 innings because your legs get tired, you can lose focus every now and then, but this team stayed composed and we had a really good day." — Left fielder Ray Zuberer III.
- "I've been struggling all season long, but I've been working with my coaches. I give all the credit to them and my teammates. I had a good day today, and I'm grateful for it ... We haven't been on top [of the standings] since I've been here. It's a great feeling and we want to keep it that way." — Left fielder Ray Zuberer III.
Up Next
WKU and Charlotte will wrap up the three-game series with the final on Sunday, March 31 with a 12 p.m. first pitch. With a win, the Hilltoppers would match the 2009 club that began its league season with an 8-1 record through nine games in the Sun Belt Conference.
