BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – WKU Softball secured Sunday's Hilltopper Spring Fling championship title with a 12-1 five-inning victory over Illinois State. The Red and White exploded for an 11-run fourth inning including a grand slam from Kennedy Sullivan to break the game wide open. Kelsey Aikey delivered another double-digit strikeout showing and moved into fifth place on WKU's career strikeouts list.
"I thought we had great plate approaches and gave ourselves a chance to win every single time we stepped up to the plate," head coach Amy Tudor opened about the Hilltoppers' 5-0 weekend. "We were very confident up there and our circle and defense were both strong to back that."
With the 5-0 weekend, the Hilltoppers have now strung together six-straight wins and own a 16-4 overall record on the season. WKU owns an 8-2 record when playing at home.
"I think we've got the best fans in Conference USA, not even just for softball but across all of our sports," commented Kendall Smith. "It's really nice hearing them in our stadium and then especially winning in front of them."
Illinois State moved to 9-9 with the loss. Six of the Redbirds' losses have come to teams ranked or receiving votes while they've picked up wins against [RV] USF and [RV] Boise State already this season.
Two of Illinois State's five hits came in the top of the second inning when the Redbirds had two runners on with one out before Aikey delivered her fourth strikeout of the game – moving her into sole possession of fifth place on WKU's career strikeouts list – for the second out before sitting the next batter down as well to end the threat.
WKU would score first after TJ Webster reached on an error, stole second and then came around to score on another error for the 1-0 lead.
It wouldn't be until the bottom of the fourth inning that WKU recorded a hit on the game as the squad racked up eight in the frame. The Tops scored 11 runs before Illinois State retired three-straight Hilltopper batters. Sullivan, Kendall Smith and Paige Carter all registered two hits in the inning as WKU sent 15 batters to the box.
After Sullivan opened the frame with a base hit, her second time at the plate she would record her second grand slam of the season. Smith tallied a pair of base hits in the frame while Carter sent a double to each gap for two RBI. Brylee Hage scored a pair of teammates with a single to left-center field while Jordan Thomas posted an RBI knock of her own. Maggie Trgo drew a bases-loaded pinch-hit walk which scored Princess Valencia who had reached on an error.
WKU entered the weekend with 10 collective home runs and doubled that mark across its five Hilltopper Spring Fling contests. Carter, Taylor Sanders, Smith, Sullivan and Thomas each tallied two on the weekend.
Aikey earned her second win in as many days over Illinois State. The senior posted her sixth complete-game victory of the season to improve to 8-2 in the circle. Her 10 strikeouts marked her fifth double-digit showing of the season and brought her 2020 total to an even 100.
"I think the growth for Kelsey began her freshman year and has continued through her senior season," Tudor added. "Every year she gets a little better and obviously she's peaking at the right time. Aikey works hard; she's a bulldog on the mound and has a lot of drive. She's just fun to watch."
"It's a huge honor to be on that career list," Aikey shared. "I take a lot of pride in my strikeouts and keeping my walks down and it means a lot to earn a spot on our list."
On the career strikeouts list, Aikey sits in fifth with 446. She is 43 punchouts away from tying for fourth with Allison Silver (2001-04).
NEXT GAME:
With its regular-season tournaments in the books, WKU will turn its focus to its first midweek matchup of the season as Belmont visits The Hill on Wednesday. First pitch against the Bruins is slated for 6 p.m. CT.
How to Follow the Hilltoppers: For complete information on WKU Softball, follow the team on Twitter at @WKUSoftball, Instagram @WKU_Softball and Facebook /WKUSoftball.
Western Kentucky University Athletics
- Champions Climb Here
- WKU Athletics
- Athletic Director
- Academic Services
- Annual Report
- Athletic Communications
- Athletic Hall of Fame
- Athletic Training
- Big Red
- CLIMB Program - NIL
- Compliance
- Facilities
- Financial Reports
- For Students
- Student Employment
- Forms/Requests
- Book Big Red
- Donation Requests
- Site Feedback
- For Fans
- Hilltopper Highlights
- Gameday Promotions
- Alumni Tailgates
- Big Red's Rascals
- Basketball Gameday
- Football Gameday
- Mobile Tickets
- Travel Center
- Tickets
- Give
