Timely Hitting, Solid Pitching Leads Tops to Win Over MTSU

Friday, March 6

Bowling Green, Ky.

3 p.m. CT

Western Kentucky University

18-4, 1-0

Middle Tennessee

13-11, 0-1

Middle Tennessee

WKU

3/6/2020 7:32:00 PM | Softball

Box Score Game 22 Coach Tudor Interview Jordan Thomas Interview

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – WKU Softball opened its 2020 Conference USA slate with a 3-1 win over Middle Tennessee from The Hill on Friday. Kelsey Aikey delivered a two-hitter in the circle while Brylee Hage drove in a pair of runs as the Hilltoppers claimed their eighth-consecutive victory.

"It's great to start conference play with a win," head coach Amy Tudor opened. "Aikey did a great job in the circle – I think our staff's been strong all year – but her confidence and poise on the mound was a big carrier for us, especially when we weren't hitting the ball as well as we had been. I felt like we played good defense today and had a couple players step up with big hits, so timely hitting was important for us."

With Friday's win, the Red and White improved to 18-4 overall and 1-0 in C-USA action. The Tops are now 10-2 in games at the WKU Softball Complex this season. Middle Tennessee moved to 13-11 with the loss, which ended a six-game win streak, and is now 0-1 in league play.

"I felt like we found a way to win and sometimes that's the case if you aren't having the long ball or producing a lot of runs and that's what we went out and did today," added Tudor.

Held to just six hits on the day – with three coming in the bottom of the sixth – the Hilltopper offense found other ways on base as WKU had a baserunner in all six trips to the plate. Taylor Davis was stranded in the first after drawing a walk before Taylor Sanders was left on board following a double in the second. Jordan Thomas drew a walk in the third before Paige Carter struck for the Hilltoppers' second hit of the day in the bottom of the fourth with a base hit.

Sanders led off the bottom of the fifth with a seven-pitch walk before moving into scoring position on a wild pitch. Two batters later, the freshman advanced 60 feet on a groundout before a two-out double to the leftfield wall from Thomas scored the first run of the game.

Middle Tennessee took advantage of its leadoff hitter in the sixth reaching on a fielding error by the Tops. The runner would advance to third after a sacrifice bunt and groundout before scoring on an infield hit.

In its next trip to the plate, WKU got the run back along with an insurance tally. Kennedy Sullivan led things off with a single back up the middle before moving into scoring position on a groundout. From there, Carter sent her second hit of the day – a double – down the right field line to moving Sullivan to third. Next up, Hage lined a single back up the middle that brought both Sullivan and Carter home for the final 3-1 line.

"Thomas started us off with that two-RBI shot down the line, which was huge," Tudor continued. "Carter got up there and ripped the ball after Sullivan's hit up the middle and then little freshman Brylee Hage steps up and gets a two-RBI hit."

WKU would take the field looking for the final three outs in the top of the seventh. The Blue Raiders struck for their second and final hit of the day in the frame after going 18 batters between hits. After the leadoff knock, WKU handled a pair of fly balls and a groundout to second base for the final outs.

Aikey secured the complete-game win in the circle – her seventh of the season – while striking out seven and allowing zero earned runs. Her two-hitter against the Blue Raiders is the 12^th outing of two-or-fewer hits of Aikey's career and helped her to a 9-2 record in the circle this season.

"With this being our first conference game, we had some younger ones in there that might have had some nerves getting to them," Thomas opened about the team's timely hitting opposed to its recent explosive offense. "Once someone starts the hitting, everyone follows – that's just kind of how we operate. Aikey was pitching her butt off and we wanted to get her the win because she deserves it."

Reaching base twice – via a walk and double – Thomas extended her reached-base streak to 18 games dating back to opening weekend.

Carter delivered a multi-hit game for the sixth time this season in addition to collecting her fourth double in the last three games.

NEXT GAME:
Game two of the three-day series against Middle Tennessee is slated for a 2 p.m. CT first pitch on Saturday from the WKU Softball Complex. Sunday's finale is scheduled for a 1 p.m. start.

How to Follow the Hilltoppers: For complete information on WKU Softball, follow the team on Twitter at @WKUSoftball, Instagram @WKU_Softball and Facebook /WKUSoftball.