"I thought we did a good job in all facets of the game this weekend," opened WKU Softball head coach Amy Tudor. "Obviously, when you go 3-0 it's a great weekend. I felt like we made really good adjustments this week at practice and then we put them in play in our game today."
WKU improved to 25-7 on the season with the win and is now 9-3 in Conference USA play and back in sole possession of the C-USA East Division lead. FIU fell to 1-8 in league play with the loss and 15-20 overall.
FIU marks the second series the Hilltoppers have swept this season, with the other coming against UTEP from March 18-20 at the WKU Softball Complex.
Additionally, the Red and White climbed to 19-1 when scoring first in a game and 16-1 when playing on The Hill.
Jordan Ridge connected for a leadoff homerun to open the bottom of the second inning to get the Hilltoppers on the board first. WKU added a second run in the inning after Sanders singled to left field, stole second and then took the last two bases on wild pitches. In that span, Randi Drinnon and TJ Webster also drew walks.
After FIU scattered three hits and a reach via error through the first three frames, Shelby Nunn and the Hilltopper defense would retire the final seven Panther batters of the game in order.
Following their second-straight 1-2-3 inning in the field, the Hilltoppers went back to the dugout and sent seven batters to the plate. Six of those Tops would come around to score as there was just one out when Sanders ended the game with the Hilltoppers' first grand slam of the season.
Webster, Taylor Davis and Ridge all reached base with a single in the bottom of the fifth, while Brylee Hage and Bailey Curry drew walks.
Nunn earned the complete-game win in the circle, allowing just three hits on the day along with zero free bases. She struck out a pair while improving to 14-5 on the season with the win. Nunn is up to 10 complete-games on the season and now owns four solo shutouts along with two combined shutout efforts.
Ridge and Sanders – the home run hitters of the game – both finished with two-hit performances on the day. Ridge is up to 10 multi-hit outings on the year and Sanders is right behind her with nine. In terms of multi-RBI games, Ridge is up to six with two RBI in Sunday's win while Sanders' season total is nine with Sunday's four-RBI effort being her first of the sort this season.
TOP STORYLINES
- WKU is now 36-35 all-time against FIU – taking the series lead with the weekend sweep. With the win, the Hilltoppers are now 13-15 against the Panthers when playing in Bowling Green.
- Coach Tudor is in her 18th season as a head coach – ninth on The Hill – and owns a 476-370-2 career coaching record.
- WKU is now 19-1 when scoring first in a game.
- The Hilltoppers are 16-1 when playing at the WKU Softball Complex this season.
- Taylor Sanders' grand slam was the first by a Hilltopper this season. The previous grand slam hit by a WKU player prior to that came from the bat of Paige Carter against UAB on March 20, 2021.
How to Follow Hilltopper Softball: For complete information on WKU Softball, follow the team on Twitter at @WKUSoftball, Instagram @WKU_Softball and Facebook /WKUSoftball.
