Hilltoppers Drop Series Finale to Wright State

Sunday, February 23

Bowling Green, Ky

1:00 PM CT

Western Kentucky University

5-2

Wright State

2-5

Wright State

WKU

Photo by: Steve Roberts, WKU Athletics

2/23/2020 6:11:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score Box Score Season Stats

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – WKU Baseball dropped its series finale to Wright State, 9-5, Sunday afternoon at Nick Denes Field.

The Hilltoppers earned wins in their first two contests against the Raiders, but will move to 5-2 on the season following the series finale, while Wright State will improve to 2-5 on the year.

After WKU jumped out to an early lead in the matchup, a six-run fourth inning from the Raiders proved to be the difference maker, as the Hilltoppers were unable to battle back for the win.

"I think we gave them two walks and they had six singles and we just couldn't get out of that [fourth] inning," said head coach John Pawlowski. "That was the difference, in my opinion, we just weren't able to get out of that inning and give them credit - they came back and found a way to win today."

The Hilltoppers deployed six different pitchers on the mound who combined to allow 13 hits and nine runs (seven earned).

Jack Lambert provided one of the steadier relief appearances in the contest, fanning a team-high four batters while allowing just one hit in 2.1 innings of action.

"I'm encouraged by what Jack [Lambert] did," said Pawlowski. "He went out there and made some really big pitches and kept us in the game, and that's those middle relievers jobs, they've got to do that. Jack was outstanding today, I was pleased to see what he did."

Offensively, WKU combined for 10 hits, with three players contributing multi-hit outings. Davis Sims led the way with a 2-for-4 showing while adding two RBI. Jack Wilson went 2-for-4 on the day with two runs, while Ray Zuberer III rounded out the multi-hit group with a 2-for-4 performance of his own.

SCORING SUMMARY
The Hilltoppers got on the board first, taking a 2-0 lead in the first frame following RBI-singles from Sims and Matt Phipps.

The Raiders then scored their first run of the day in the top of the second off an RBI-single.

Eric Riffe plated WKU's third run of the day, using a bases-loaded groundout to the first baseman to score Jackson Swiney from third.

The Wright State offense exploded in the fourth frame, collecting six runs to jump out to a 7-3 lead.

The Hilltoppers tried to make it interesting in the seventh inning, with an RBI-single from Sims and sac fly from Swiney putting the game at 7-5.

However, the Raiders would go on to add two more runs of their own in the top of the eighth to earn the eventual 9-5 win.

UP NEXT
The Hilltoppers will play their first road game of the season as they travel to Clarksville, Tenn., to face Austin Peay at 3 p.m. CT on Tuesday, Feb. 25.