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BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — After two thrilling come-from-behind victories in the past week, WKU Baseball travels to Belmont on Tuesday, April 16 for a 4 p.m. first pitch at E.S. Rose Park. After an 8-7 victory this past Tuesday, the Hilltoppers have the opportunity to sweep the Bruins in a home-and-home for the second-straight season.
SERIES HISTORY
- WKU and Belmont will meet for the 50th time on the diamond; the Hilltoppers lead the all-time series 25-24.
- The Bruins hold a 14-11 mark in Nashville, while WKU has a 14-10 advantage in Bowling Green.
- WKU has won eight of the past 10 games against Belmont dating back to 2014.
- The clubs have faced each other twice in every season since 2008, and at least once in every season since 2003.
- The Hilltoppers and Bruins first played in 1954 and faced off 18 times from then until 1970, but then did not play again until 1999.
- WKU swept Belmont in a home-and-home in 2018. The Hilltoppers defeated the Bruins by a score of 4-1 on Feb. 20 at Nick Denes Field in the team's home opener (RECAP), then won by a score of 15-7 on March 6 at E.S. Rose Park (RECAP).
WKU PREVIEW
- WKU past week recaps: TUESDAY vs. Belmont (W, 8-7) | FRIDAY at Marshall (L, 2-8) | SATURDAY DH at Marshall (L, 7-11 & W, 16-11)
- After bouncing back with a 2-2 week, the Hilltoppers stand at 16-17-1 overall with an 8-6-1 record in Conference USA play, good enough for fifth in the league standings.
- Making seven-straight starts at first base, Richard Constantine has slashed .375/.429/.813 with four homeruns, two doubles, eight runs scored and 12 batted in. He has also posted a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage with the glove on 51 total chances.
- Right fielder Jake Sanford continues to lead WKU with a .401/.478/.861 slash line, while starting all 34 games and playing all 296 defensive innings in right field. In Division I ranks, his .401 batting average is 26th, 55 hits are tied for 20th, .478 on-base percentage is 77th, 43 runs scored are tied for 21st, 49 runs batted in are tied for fifth, .861 slugging percentage is fourth and 118 total bases are third.
- The Hilltoppers are 7-3 in one-run games, 14-9-1 in games played on turf (at least infield), 5-0 when their starting pitcher goes five-plus innings, 11-3-1 when the opponent's starter goes fewer than five innings, 6-0 when only WKU scores in the first inning, 11-4 when out-hitting their opponent and 7-4 when holding the opponent to zero homeruns.
BELMONT PREVIEW
- Belmont past week recaps: TUESDAY vs. WKU (L, 7-8) | FRIDAY at Jacksonville State (L, 0-9) | SATURDAY DH at Jacksonville State (W, 7-1 & L, 4-9)
- The Bruins enter the week with a 16-19Â overall record. Belmont lost 3-of-4 games this past week, including 2-of-3 against the Gamecocks to fall into a tie for third in the Ohio Valley Conference with an 11-7 league record.
- Second baseman and leadoff hitter Zach Ehrhart leads the Bruins with a .302 batting average while scoring 21 runs. Right fielder Devon Gardner ranks second on the team with 22 runs batted in, and leads the club with a .419 slugging percentage and 11 extra-base hits; he hit his first three homeruns of the season in a 5-1 victory against Eastern Illinois on April 7.
- Belmont allowed 51 runs in the team's season-opening series and was swept by Illinois State in the process. Since then, the Bruins have allowed a much more respectable 5.6Â runs per game over the past 32 contests.
- Belmont has hit 16 homeruns as a team, while Sanford has hit 16 dingers by himself to tie for third among Division I hitters.
