Hilltoppers Set for Last Non-Conference Road Trip at Austin Peay

Tuesday, April 25

Clarksville, TN

6:00 PM CT

Western Kentucky University

Austin Peay

Photo by: Evan Brown/WKU Athletics

Hilltoppers Set for Last Non-Conference Road Trip at Austin Peay

4/24/2023 3:30:00 PM | Baseball

Game Notes

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – WKU Baseball is set for its final non-conference road trip of the season against the Austin Peay Governors beginning at 6 p.m. CT on Tuesday, April 25 in Clarksville, Tenn.

THE SCHEDULE
• The Hilltoppers are set for a road midweek contest against Austin Peay beginning at 6 p.m. CT on Tuesday, April 25 in Clarksville, Tenn.

LAST TIME OUT
• WKU swept Florida Atlantic for its first C-USA sweep of the season and first sweep of the Owls in program history.
• The Hilltoppers clinched the series win with doubleheader sweep over Florida Atlantic winning 6-4 in game one and 9-8 in an extra-inning battle in game two.
• Down 1-4 in game one, the Tops offense rallied off four runs in the bottom of the seventh to take the lead and not look back, eventually claiming the win after a Lukas Farris long ball in the eighth to extend the lead to 6-4. CJ Weins closed things out in the top of the ninth to seal the game without allowing a runner to reach base.
• WKU faced an even bigger deficit in game two, down 1-7 going into the bottom of the seventh inning. The offense chipped away over the next few innings while the pitching staff only allowed one more run going into the bottom of the ninth where the offense was able to tie it up, 8-8, and send the game into extra innings. Mason Burns entered in relief and held a high-powered FAU offense scoreless in 5.0 innings of work, giving the offense a chance to walk it off. Kirk Liebert tapped a bunt single that caused a throwing error from the Owls defense and allowed AJ Fiechter to score from second and win the game and clinch the series for WKU.
• The series finale saw all three phases of the game click on all cylinders for WKU, holding Florida Atlantic scoreless for eight innings and scoring four runs on seven hits on the offensive side. After surrendering two runs in the top of the ninth, the Hilltopper defense retrieved all three outs to close the game and complete the sweep of the Owls.

DOUBLE TIME
• Through 41 games the Hilltopper defense is top 20 in the nation and leads all of C-USA in double plays (35), while also ranking second in the league in doubles hit (82).
• The top three spots of the C-USA doubles leaders belong to Hilltoppers in INF Drew Reckart (16), INF Tristin Garcia (13) and OF Ty Crittenberger (12).

TOP OF THE CHARTS
• Only 15 C-USA players are hitting .330 or better through the first 10 weeks of the season with INF Tristin Garcia ranking 8th (.344) and INF Drew Reckart ranking 12th (.338).

MOUND MARVELS
• Freshman RHP Dawson Hall ranks 6th in C-USA with a 2.91 ERA while LHP Lane Diuguid ranks 9th with a 3.30 ERA and LHP Devyn Terbrak is 13th with a 3.79 ERA.
• WKU ranks 3rd in the league in saves (11), opponent batting average (.245) and 2nd in home runs allowed (32).

TEAMWORK MAKES THE DREAM WORK
• WKU's offense currently leads all of C-USA in sacrifice bunts (42), almost doubling the next best team, UAB (22), while ranking as one of the top three teams in the nation in the category.
• Three Hilltoppers are among the top five C-USA leaders in sacrifice bunts in Kirk Liebert (8), AJ Fiechter (6), and Aidan Gilroy (5).

SERIES HISTORY
• WKU and Austin Peay have met 163 times in program history, with the Hilltoppers owning a 100-62-1 all-time series edge.
• The teams met once earlier this season with the Hilltoppers taking the victory, 8-2, over the Governors in Bowling Green.

SCOUTING THE HILLTOPPERS
• WKU is 22-19 on the season after sweeping Florida Atlantic last weekend.
• Offensively, five Hilltoppers are hitting .300 or better with INFs Tristin Garcia (.344) Drew Reckart (.338), and Aidan Gilroy (.307) leading the charge.
• On the mound, WKU has compiled a 4.51 team ERA while striking out 339 batters in 361.0 innings of action.

SCOUTING THE GOVERNORS
• Austin Peay is 21-20 on the year after taking two of three against Jacksonville State this past weekend.
• At the plate, the Governors have nine players hitting above .300, led by Lyle Miller-Green who currently owns a .370 batting average.
• The Austin Peay pitching staff has produced a 6.45 team ERA while recording 356 strikeouts in 348.2 frames.

How to follow WKU Baseball: For complete information on WKU Hilltopper Baseball, visit WKUSports.com or follow the program via social media @WKU_Baseball on Twitter and @WKUBaseball Instagram.