Hilltoppers Hit the Road for Matchup with No. 6 Louisville

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – WKU Baseball will visit the No. 6 Louisville Cardinals for a midweek match beginning at 4 p.m. CT on Tuesday, March 21, at Jim Patterson Stadium.

THE SCHEDULE
• WKU Baseball is set to face No. 6 Louisville at 4 p.m. CT on Tuesday, March 21 at Jim Patterson Stadium.

LAST TIME OUT
• The Hilltoppers dropped its C-USA opening series to Middle Tennessee, losing 2-of-3 this past weekend.
• WKU fell behind early in the series opener, going down 0-6 through the first two innings. The Hilltopper offense inched closer and closer through the next five innings, eventually taking the lead off a two-RBI single from AJ Fiechter, but the Blue Raiders rallied for six runs in the final two frames to take game one.
• Game two saw freshman RHP Dawson Hall earn his second straight Saturday win and fourth overall while freshman INF Lukas Farris drove in three RBI in a 2-for-4 outing that helped solidify the victory over the Blue Raiders and even the series going into Sunday's series finale.
• In the series finale, the Hilltoppers held the lead through seven innings, but a late eighth inning rally from Middle Tennessee turned the tides and clinch the series win for the Blue Raiders.

DOUBLE TIME
• Through 21 games the Hilltopper offense is one of the top teams in the nation and leads all of C-USA in doubles (56), while leading the league in doubles per game (2.7).
• INF Drew Reckart (10) and OF Ty Crittenberger (9) are at the top of the league in doubles, ranking 1st and 2nd in C-USA.

TOP OF THE CHARTS
• Only seven C-USA players are hitting .390 or better through the first four weeks of the season. INF Drew Reckart ranks 7th in the league with a .394 average through 21 games thus far.
• WKU carries three of the top 15 C-USA batting average leaders in INFs Drew Reckart (.394), Aidan Gilroy (.381), and Ty Crittenberger (.372), ranking 7th, 9th, and 13th in the conference.
• As a team, the Hilltoppers rank 2nd C-USA in batting average (.316), while ranking in the top 20 in the nation.

MOUND MARVELS
• WKU leads the league in saves (7) while ranking 3rd in the conference in opponent batting average (.251) and the staff has only surrendered 12 home runs through 12 games, ranking 2nd in C-USA.
• LHP Devyn Terbrak is tied for the 5th-most strikeouts in C-USA with 33.

TEAMWORK MAKES THE DREAM WORK
• WKU's offense currently leads all of Conference USA in sacrifice bunts (23), more than doubling the next best team, UAB, who has 10, while ranking as one of the top five teams in the nation.
• The top three C-USA leaders in sacrifice bunts are all Hilltoppers in AJ Fiechter (6), Aidan Gilroy (3), and Kirk Liebert (3).

SERIES HISTORY
• WKU and Louisville have met 142 times in program history, with the Cardinals owning a 73-69 all-time series edge.
• The teams met twice last season with Louisville winning both matchups.

SCOUTING THE HILLTOPPERS
• WKU is 15-6 on the season following its C-USA opening series.
• Offensively, eight Hilltoppers are hitting .300 or better on the season with Drew Reckart (.394), Aidan Gilroy (.381), and Ty Crittenberger (.372) leading the charge.
• On the mound, WKU has compiled a 4.65 team ERA while striking out 185 batters in 182.0 innings of action.

SCOUTING THE CARDINALS
• No. 6 Louisville is 17-2 on the year after defeating Georgia Tech in a three-game series this past weekend, winning 2-of-3.
• At the plate, the Cardinals have two players hitting above .400, led by Jack Payton who currently owns a .427 batting average.
• The Louisville pitching staff has produced a 3.25 team ERA while recording 200 strikeouts in 169.0 frames.

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Players Mentioned

Ty Crittenberger

Lukas Farris

AJ Fiechter

Aidan Gilroy

Dawson Hall

Kirk Liebert

Drew Reckart

Devyn Terbrak