BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – WKU Baseball clinched a series win over Western Illinois with a 9-6 victory on Sunday afternoon at Nick Denes Field.
With the game tied at 6-6 in the bottom of the eighth inning, a pinch-hit three-RBI double by Andrew Delaney helped seal the deal and give the Hilltoppers their second win of the weekend.
"It was a challenge today - both teams had plenty of opportunities to win the game," said head coach John Pawlowski. "We were very fortunate that some things went our way. Andrew Delaney, he'd been in the dugout for three-plus hours, and we called on him to pinch-hit and he came up with a big hit – a double on a 3-2 count. That was so exciting to see that. We played well overall, we just made it tough on ourselves sometimes, but I like the way our team responded today after what happened yesterday."
Devyn Terbrak started things off on the mound for WKU, recording four strikeouts while allowing four runs in 5.1 innings. Three Hilltoppers saw relief action in Aristotle Peter, Cooper Hellman and Mason Vinyard, with Vinyard picking up the win after striking out five batters and allowing just one hit over the final 2.0 frames.
At the plate, WKU racked up 11 hits and five walks, with three players producing multi-hit efforts. Aidan Gilroy led the way, going 3-for-5 with two runs, while Brett Blomquist and Tristin Garcia each added two hits in the matchup.
SCORING SUMMARY
WKU opened the scoring in the second inning, with Garcia ripping a triple to right field before scoring off a throwing error on the play, giving the squad an early 1-0 lead.
The Hilltoppers added another run in the fourth frame, with Gilroy scoring from third on a wild pitch to make it 2-0.
Western Illinois scored its first run of the game in the fifth inning, using an RBI single to make it 2-1.
The Leathernecks then added three runs in the top of the sixth to take their first lead of the game, earning a 4-2 advantage.
The Hilltoppers answered back with a run of their own in the bottom of the inning, as an RBI double by Ty Batusich made it 4-3.
After Western Illinois tacked on another run in the top of the seventh, WKU again answered back, with an RBI double by Blomquist and two-RBI single by Ty Crittenberger giving the Hilltoppers a 6-5 edge.
The back-and-forth continued in the eighth inning, with the Leathernecks adding another run to tie things up at 6-6.
The Hilltoppers finally took control for good in the bottom of the eighth, as Delaney entered the game with the bases loaded before ripping a three-RBI double into right field to give WKU the eventual 9-6 victory.
UP NEXT
The Hilltoppers will head to Nashville, Tenn., to face Lipscomb at 3 p.m. CT on Tuesday, Feb. 22.
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