THE SCHEDULE
- The Hilltoppers will open their series on Friday, April 29 with a 6:30 p.m. CT matchup against Rice.
- WKU will then play the Owls at 2 p.m. CT on Saturday, April 30.
- The Hilltoppers will close out their series against Rice on Sunday, May 1 at 1 p.m. CT.
LAST TIME OUT
- WKU Baseball dropped its midweek road matchup with No. 10 Louisville, 11-4, on Tuesday night at Jim Patterson Stadium.
- The Hilltoppers jumped out to an early lead with four runs in the top of the third, but the Cardinals rallied back with runs in five of the next six innings, capped off with a six-run eruption in the bottom of the eighth to pull away.
- Luke Stofel earned the starting nod on the mound for WKU, allowing three runs over 5.0 innings while fanning a career high five batters. The Hilltoppers then utilized Jake Kates, Logan Bowen, Hunter Crosby and Aaron Shiflet in relief, with the group combining to surrender eight runs (seven earned) while not allowing a walk and recording two strikeouts.
- At the plate, WKU tallied five hits and four walks. Andrew Delaney led the way, going 2-for-4 with two RBI and one run, while Tristin Garcia, Aidan Gilroy and Matthew Meyer each added one hit apiece.
FRESHMAN ON FIRE
- True freshman Ty Batusich leads the team in on-base percentage (.418), slugging percentage (.552), home runs (eight), walks (16), runs (29) and total bases (74) while ranking second in batting average (.313) and RBI (29).
- Batusich currently ranks 20th in Conference USA in home runs, 21st in slugging percentage and 26th in on base percentage.
- Batusich was named the C-USA Hitter of the Week on Monday, March 7 after slashing .471/.500/.706 in four starts while racking up eight hits – including a double and home run – to go along with two runs and 10 RBI against (RV) Kentucky and Hartford.
FIRST AIN'T FREE
- The Hilltopper pitching staff currently ranks third in Conference USA and 26th in the nation with just 3.38 walks allowed per nine innings.
- WKU also ranks third in C-USA and 53rd in the country with a 2.47 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
- Individually, Devyn Terbrak currently ranks fifth in C-USA in both strikeout-to-walk ratio (5.10) and walks allowed per nine innings (1.50).
SERIES HISTORY
- WKU and Rice have met 23 times in program history, with the Owls owning a 16-7 all-time series edge.
- The teams last met on May 5, 2019, with WKU earning a 6-4 home win.
- The Hilltoppers have won their past five matchups against Rice.
SCOUTING THE HILLTOPPERS
- WKU is 13-27 (4-14 C-USA) on the season following its loss to No. 10 Louisville on Tuesday.
- Offensively, two Hilltoppers are hitting over .300 in Tristin Garcia (.331) and Ty Batusich (.313).
- On the mound, WKU has struck out 319 batters in 343.0 innings of action.
SCOUTING THE OWLS
- Rice is 11-29 (4-14 C-USA) on the year after dropping a three-game road series to No. 6 Southern Miss last weekend.
- At the plate, the Owls have two players hitting above .300, led by Nathan Becker who owns a .333 batting average.
- On the mound, Rice has struck out 324 batters in 344.2 innings of work.
