BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – WKU Baseball is set to play its final non-conference series against South Dakota State this weekend beginning at 3 p.m. CT on Friday, March 10 at Nick Denes Field.
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THE SCHEDULE
• The Hilltoppers will open their series on Friday, March10 with a 3 p.m. CT matchup against South Dakota State.
• WKU will then play the Jackrabbits at 2 p.m. CT on Saturday, March 11.
• The Hilltoppers will close out their series against South Dakota State on Sunday, March 12 at 1 p.m. CT.
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LAST TIME OUT
• The Hilltoppers faced Belmont for the second and final time this season, beating the Bruins 11-1 after seven innings due to a 10-run rule at Nick Denes Field.
• WKU scored 11 runs on nine hits while surrendering just one run on four hits to Belmont.
• Three Hilltoppers produced RBI doubles accounting for five of the nine runs, while RHP Cole Heath earned his first collegiate win on the rubber for WKU.
• With the win, the Tops sweep the season series over the Bruins for the first time since 2019.
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BY THE NUMBERS
• The Hilltoppers rank nationally in sacrifice hits (2nd), sacrifice flies (4th), doubles (7th), hits (13th), batting average (18th), doubles per game (31st), runs (32nd), on-base percentage (33rd), and walks (39th).
• OF Ty Crittenberger ranks 6th nationally with seven doubles as well as 30th in hits with 21.
• INF AJ Fiechter is tied for 1st in the nation with five sacrifice bunts on the season, while INFs Ty Batusich and Drew Reckart are tied for 4th in the nation in sarifice flies with three a piece.
• INF Aidan Gilroy is tied for 31st in the nation in strikeout percentage only striking out in 5% of his at-bats this season.
• RHP CJ Weins is currently tied for 7th in the country with three saves through the teams first 14 games of the year.
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DOUBLE TIME
• Through 14 games the Hilltopper offense leads all of C-USA and is ranked 7th in the nation for doubles (35). WKU also leads the league in doubles per game (2.5), while being tied for 31st in the country.
• OF Ty Crittenberger leads all of C-USA in doubles (7) hitting four in the past eight games.
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TOP OF THE CHARTS
• Only seven C-USA players are hitting .400 or over through the first three weeks of the season, with two of them being Hilltoppers. INFs Drew Reckart (.405) and Tristin Garcia (.405) rank 6th and 7th in the entire league.
• WKU carries four of the top 10 C-USA batting average leaders in INFs Drew Reckart (.405), Tristin Garcia (.405), Aidan Gilroy (.395), and OF Ty Crittenberger (.382) ranking 6th, 7th, 8th, and 10th in the conference.
• As a team, the Hilltoppers lead C-USA in batting average (.325), while ranking 18th in the nation.
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MOUND MARVELS
• WKU leads the league in saves (5) while ranking 3rd in the conference in opponent batting average (.249) and the staff has only surrendered eight home runs through 14 games, tied for 1st in C-USA.
• RHP Mason Burns and LHP Lane Diuguid are tied for the 10th-most strikeouts in C-USA with 16 a piece while LHP Devyn Terbrak is tied for 15th (15).
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TEAMWORK MAKES THE DREAM WORK
• WKU's offense currently leads all of Conference USA in sacrifice bunts (17), almost tripling the next best team, UAB, who has six.
• The Hilltoppers are currently tied for second in the nation for sacrifice bunts with Jackson State, only trailing Wofford who has 19.
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SERIES HISTORY
• WKU and South Dakota State have never met in program history.
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SCOUTING THE HILLTOPPERS
• WKU is 10-4 on the season following its 11-1 run rule win over Belmont last Tuesday at The Nick.
• 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, two Hilltoppers are hitting .400 or better on the season in Drew Reckart (.405) and Tristin Garcia (.405), while two are just below .400 in Aidan Gilroy (.395) and Ty Crittenberger (.382).
• On the mound, WKU has compiled a 4.98 team ERA while striking out 130 batters in 121.0 innings of action.
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SCOUTING THE JACKRABBITS
• South Dakota State is 3-5 on the year after losing to Minnesota on Wednesday.
• At the plate, the Jackrabbits have three players hitting above .400, led by Dawson Perry who currently owns a .483 batting average.
• The South Dakota State pitching staff has produced a 7.57 team ERA while recording 77 strikeouts in 63.0 frames.
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How to Follow Hilltopper Baseball: For complete information on WKU Baseball, follow the program via social media on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
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