CHARLOTTE, N.C. – WKU Baseball opened its Conference USA slate with a 7-5 win over (RV) Charlotte on Friday night at Truist Field.
The Hilltoppers used strong play on both sides of the ball to capture the conference win and move to 9-8 overall on the season.
"I'm really proud of this group," said head coach John Pawlowski. "Winning is hard, and we did a lot of the little things right. We just found ways to add on. I'm just really proud of these guys, really great job by our team today."
Jake Kates earned the starting nod for the series opener, picking up the win after allowing three runs and recording three strikeouts in 5.0 frames. Hunter Crosby entered in the sixth inning to relieve Kates, tossing 1.1 innings of hitless ball while adding a strikeout. Mason Vinyard closed things out from there, earning his fourth save of the season after allowing two runs and striking out four in 2.2 innings of work.
At the plate, the Hilltoppers tallied nine hits and four walks, with three players producing multi-hit performances. Ty Batusich recorded a perfect 3-for-3 outing, adding a double and home run, while Matthew Meyer went 3-for-5 and Aidan Gilroy went 2-for-5.
SCORING SUMMARY
WKU opened the scoring in the second inning, with Andrew Delaney using a sacrifice fly to plate Batusich.
The 49ers answered back in the bottom of the second, recording an RBI double and RBI single to pull ahead 2-1.
The Hilltoppers regained their lead in the fifth frame, with a solo shot by Batusich, sacrifice fly by AJ Fiechter and RBI double by Meyer making it 4-2.
Charlotte then added a solo home run in the bottom of the inning to put the score at 4-3.
WKU extended its lead in the sixth, with a groundout by Delaney scoring Gilroy from third to make it 5-3.
The Hilltoppers tacked on another run in the seventh inning, as an RBI groundout by Tristin Garcia scored Fiechter to give the team a 6-3 advantage.
WKU added its final run in the top of the eighth, with Brett Blomquist using a sacrifice fly to plate Batusich and put the game at 7-3.
The 49ers added two runs in the bottom of the eighth, but were shut out from there, giving WKU the eventual 7-5 victory.
UP NEXT
The Hilltoppers will continue their series against Charlotte with a 2 p.m. CT matchup on Saturday, March 19 at Hayes Stadium.
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