BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – WKU Baseball earned its third walk-off win of the season, 4-3, following Jackson Gray's RBI-single in the 10th inning against Bowling Green on Friday night at Nick Denes Field.
After heading into the bottom of the 10th down by one run, RBI-hits by Ray Zuberer III and Gray gave the Hilltoppers a dramatic 4-3 victory.
"I felt very good about the way we responded," said head coach John Pawlowski. "We needed a big hit and Ray Zuberer hit that triple down in the corner and then shortly after that Jackson Gray comes up with the big base-hit to the right side. It was exciting to see that - the way we came back - the way we responded."
Jake Kates opened things up on the mound for WKU in his fourth appearance of the season, recording a quality start after allowing just two earned runs and striking out eight batters in 7.2 frames. Bailey Sutton entered the game in the eighth inning, picking up his second win of the season while surrendering just one earned run and recording three strikeouts in 2.1 innings of action.
Offensively, the Hilltoppers racked up eight hits on the night, with two players producing multi-hit efforts in the game. Matthew Meyer went 2-for-3 to go along with two runs and two walks, while Kevin Lambert hit 2-for-4 in the contest.
Gray went into his last at-bat hitting 0-for-4 on the night, but came through when it mattered most, propelling WKU to a 4-3 win with his walk-off RBI-single.
"It felt great," said Gray of his walk-off hit. "[Matthew] Meyer did a good job of starting us out with a runner on first there, and then Ray [Zuberer] came up with a huge hit.
"I got down in the count but I just kind of trusted the approach, trusted the two-strike approach, and got the barrel on it and got the job done."
SCORING SUMMARY
Bowling Green opened the scoring in the third inning, using an RBI-double down the left field line to take a 1-0 lead.
WKU answered back in the bottom of the frame, with Davis Sims sending a sac fly to center field to score Ty Crittenberger and even the game at one apiece.
The Hilltoppers then took their first lead of the game in the fifth frame off a solo shot to left field by Meyer.
The Falcons tied things up in the eighth, with a sac fly putting the score at 2-2.
Bowling Green then took the lead in the top of the 10th, using an RBI-double to right center to make it 3-2.
Meyer led the bottom of the 10th off with a walk before scoring on an RBI-triple down the right field line by Zuberer. Gray then capped things off with his RBI-single to give WKU the 4-3 walk-off win.
UP NEXT
The Hilltoppers will continue their series against the Falcons with a seven-inning doubleheader starting at noon on Saturday, March 13 at Nick Denes Field.
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