Hilltoppers Continue Home Stand with Four-Game Series Against Northern Illinois

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – WKU Baseball will continue its 13-game home stand with a four-game series against Northern Illinois this weekend beginning at 3 p.m. CT on Friday March 3, at Nick Denes Field.

THE SCHEDULE
• The Hilltoppers will open the four-game series against Northern Illinois at 7 p.m. on Friday, March 3.
• WKU will then play a doubleheader beginning at 2 p.m. CT against the Huskies on Saturday, March 4 with the second game beginning approximately at 5 p.m. CT.
• The Hilltoppers will close out its series against Northern Illinois on Sunday, March 5 at 1 p.m. CT.

LAST TIME OUT
• The Hilltoppers dropped their Tuesday night game against Bellarmine in their second midweek game of the season, 9-7, at Nick Denes Field.
• Offensively, the Hilltoppers recorded 13 hits, seven walks, and was hit by five pitches with three players producing multi-hit performances. Drew Reckart led the way with a 2-for-6 outing, knocking a double and a triple, while Ty Batusich went 1-for-3 with two RBI.

DOUBLE TIME
• Through nine games the Hilltopper offense leads all of C-USA and is ranked ninth in the nation for doubles (24).
• OF Ty Crittenberger leads all of C-USA in doubles (5) after hitting four last weekend in a four-game series against Ohio.

TOP OF THE CHARTS
• INF Drew Reckart is currently third in C-USA with a .481 batting average following this week's game against Bellarmine.
• The graduate transfer has 13 hits in 27 at-bats with four doubles, one triple, one home run, and 12 RBI.

MOUND MARVELS
• The Hilltopper pitching staff has been lights out recording 85 strikeouts (2nd in C-USA) with 28 walks thus far this season.
• WKU leads the league in saves (4) while ranking third in the conference in opponent batting average (.238) and hits allowed (72), and the staff has only given up three home runs through nine games, tied for first in C-USA.
• RHP Mason Burns has the third-most strikeouts in C-USA (14), while LHP Lane Diuguid is tied for sixth (12).

TEAMWORK MAKES THE DREAM WORK
• WKU's offense currently leads all of Conference USA in sacrifice bunts (10), doubling the next best team, UAB, who has five.
• The Hilltoppers are currently ranked third in the nation in sacrifice bunts behind Wofford (12) and Jackson State (11).

SERIES HISTORY
• WKU and Northern Illinois have met 8 times in program history, with the Hilltoppers owning a 6-2 all-time series edge.
• The teams met for a four-game series in 2018 when the Hilltoppers came away with the series win, taking three of four games.
• Prior to 2018, the sides had not faced off since 1995 when WKU swept the Huskies in a three-game series in Bowling Green.
• The first ever matchup between the two came in 1938 with Northern Illinois posting an 8-0 shutout against the Tops.

SCOUTING THE HILLTOPPERS
• WKU is 7-2 on the season following its midweek loss to Bellarmine last Tuesday.
• The Hilltoppers started the season winning its first seven games, good for the longest winning streak since 2011 and best start to a season since 1985.
• Offensively, five Hilltoppers are hitting .300 or better on the season in Drew Reckart (.481), Aidan Gilroy (.474), Tristin Garcia (.360), Ty Crittenberger (.324), and Ty Batusich (.313).
• On the mound, WKU has compiled a 3.99 team ERA while striking out 85 batters in 79.0 innings of action.

SCOUTING THE HUSKIES
• Northern Illinois is 1-6 on the year after winning its first game of the season against Maine last Sunday.
• At the plate, the Huskies have one player hitting above .300, Andre Demetral who currently owns a .333 batting average.
• The NIU pitching staff has produced a 6.05 team ERA while recording 35 strikeouts in 58.0 frames.

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Hilltoppers Continue Home Stand with Four-Game Series Against Northern Illinois

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Players Mentioned

Ty Batusich

Mason Burns

Ty Crittenberger

Lane Diuguid

Tristin Garcia

Aidan Gilroy

Drew Reckart