Hilltoppers Host No. 16 Wildcats on Tuesday

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – WKU Baseball will face SEC opponent, No. 16 Kentucky for a midweek matchup beginning at 5 p.m. CT on Tuesday, March 28 at Nick Denes Field.

THE SCHEDULE
• WKU Baseball is set to host No. 16 Kentucky beginning at 5 p.m. CT on Tuesday, March 28 at Nick Denes Field.

LAST TIME OUT
• The Hilltoppers dropped 2-of-3 against C-USA opponent, Louisiana Tech at home this past weekend at Nick Denes Field.
• After losing both games in the Saturday doubleheader, the Hilltoppers bounced back to take the series finale behind LHP Devyn Terbrak nearly going the distance and two Hilltopper home runs from Drew Reckart and Ty Crittenberger led to the 5-2 victory over the Bulldogs.

DOUBLE TIME
• Through 25 games the Hilltopper offense is top three in the nation and leads all of C-USA in doubles (62), while being at the top of the league in doubles per game (2.5).
• The top three spots of the C-USA doubles leaders belong to Hilltoppers in INF Drew Reckart (12), OF Ty Crittenberger (9), and INF Tristin Garcia (9).

TOP OF THE CHARTS
• Only ten C-USA players are hitting .360 or better through the first six weeks of the season. WKU carries three of them in Drew Reckart (.376), OF Ty Crittenberger (.368) and INF Aidan Gilroy (.360) who rank 6th, 7th, and 10th in the league thus far.
• As a team, the Hilltoppers rank 3rd C-USA in batting average (.311), while ranking in the top 30 in the nation.

MOUND MARVELS
• WKU leads the league in saves (8) while ranking 3rd in the conference in opponent batting average (.249) and the staff has only surrendered 18 home runs through 25 games, ranking 3rd in C-USA.
• LHP Devyn Terbrak has the 8th-most strikeouts in C-USA with 35.

TEAMWORK MAKES THE DREAM WORK
• WKU's offense currently leads all of Conference USA in sacrifice bunts (25), almost doubling the next best team, UAB (14), 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 (4), and Kirk Liebert (4).

SERIES HISTORY
• WKU and Kentucky have met 68 times in program history, with the Wildcats owning a 39-29 all-time series edge.
• The teams met last season in Lexington, Ky. for a midweek game that saw WKU upset (RV) Kentucky, 7-5, marking the Hilltoppers first win over the Wildcats since 2016.

SCOUTING THE HILLTOPPERS
• WKU is 16-9 on the season after losing 2-of-3 to Louisiana Tech last weekend at home.
• Offensively, eight Hilltoppers are hitting .300 or better on the season with Drew Reckart (.376), OF Ty Crittenberger (.368) and INF Aidan Gilroy (.360) leading the charge.
• On the mound, WKU has compiled a 4.65 team ERA while striking out 220 batters in 217.0 innings of action.

SCOUTING THE WILDCATS
• No. 16 Kentucky is 21-3 on the year after winning 2-of-3 against Alabama this past weekend.
• At the plate, the Wildcats have one player hitting .400 or better led by Hunter Gilliam, who currently owns a .404 batting average.
• The Kentucky pitching staff has produced a 3.00 team ERA while recording 229 strikeouts in 213.0 frames.

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Players Mentioned

Ty Crittenberger

AJ Fiechter

Tristin Garcia

Aidan Gilroy

Kirk Liebert

Drew Reckart

Devyn Terbrak