BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – WKU Baseball opened its 2022 campaign with a 6-4 victory over Western Illinois on Friday afternoon at Nick Denes Field.
In what was a tightly contested game throughout, the Hilltoppers saw strong contributions from a combination of newcomers and returners to pull out the win.
"I thought our guys competed really hard," said head coach John Pawlowski. "We had a lot of energy in the dugout. I thought they were ready to play, obviously, with it being Opening Day. I really liked the way that we played the game of baseball. We did a lot of positive things to put us in a position to win the game, and we were fortunate that we ended up winning a really close ball game here on Opening Day."
Jake Kates earned the starting nod on Opening Day, picking up the win after striking out six batters while allowing just four hits and two runs in 6.0 innings of action. Cooper Hellman and Mason Vinyard each made relief appearances in the contest, combining to record five strikeouts while surrendering two hits and two runs in 3.0 frames, with Vinyard earning the save after closing things out.
Offensively, the Hilltoppers tallied seven hits and four walks, with five players recording at least one hit in the game. Aidan Gilroy led the way, going a perfect 3-for-3 with three runs, two RBI and a home run. Ty Batusich, Justin Carlin, Hunter Evans and Brodie Mackay each added one hit apiece, with Batusich blasting his first career home run in the matchup.
SCORING SUMMARY
Western Illinois opened the scoring in the top of the second inning, using two RBI singles to take a 2-0 lead.
The Hilltoppers answered back in the bottom of the frame, with Gilroy using an RBI single to plate Matthew Meyer before later scoring on a wild pitch, knotting things up at two apiece.
WKU took its first lead of the game in the fourth frame, with Gilroy sending a solo shot over the right field wall to make it 3-2.
A sacrifice fly by Mackay scored Gilroy in the sixth inning to put the Hilltoppers ahead 4-2, with Batusich later recording a two-run bomb in the seventh to give the squad a four-run cushion.
Western Illinois used a two-RBI double in the eighth frame to make it 6-4, but WKU closed things out from there to pick up the season-opening win.
UP NEXT
The Hilltoppers will continue their series with Western Illinois at 1 p.m. CT on Saturday, Feb. 19.
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