BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – WKU Baseball defeated Charlotte, 8-4, to claim the first of the three-game series on Friday night at Nick Denes Field.
With the win, the Hilltoppers improve to 23-20 (8-11 in C-USA) while the 49ers drop to 22-19 (12-6 in C-USA). The Hilltoppers have now won six of their last seven C-USA games for the first time since joining the league in 2014.
"The biggest thing for me is that our guys responded from a game that we should have won on Tuesday," said head coach Marc Rardin. "Our practice Wednesday and our talks Wednesday, I was direct with what we were needing to do. What we have to do to be better. It is a mindset. You just have to make them aware of it. It cannot be the elephant in the room, either. I am an intense guy and I love tough. Not everything is okay all the time. You have to go out there and make it okay. They worked on it Wednesday and Thursday and you could see a different response with guys in scoring position a lot more tonight."
On the mound, LHP Lane Diuguid got the starting nod in the series opener and earned his first winning decision of the season. The junior fanned five in 5.0 frames while surrendering two runs on four hits and three walks. LHP Cam Tullar and RHP Dalton Mesaris saw action in relief of Diuguid with Tullar tossing 3.0 innings, claiming four strikeouts while only allowing one run on one hit and one walk. Mesaris closed it out in the top of the ninth allowing one run (zero earned) on two hits and striking out two.
At the plate, four Hilltoppers notched two-hit efforts in the win. INFs Drew Reckart and Tristin Garcia led the way, with Reckart going 2-for-5 with a double, an RBI, and a run scored while Garcia went 2-for-4 with a double, an RBI, and a run scored, as well. Catcher Kirk Liebert totaled, a team-high, two RBI by way of a single in the bottom of the second.
SCORING SUMMARY
The Hilltoppers scratched first with a sacrifice fly from Andrew Delaney and a two-RBI single from Kirk Liebert to take a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the second.
Charlotte answered with two solo home runs in the top of the fifth to cut the Hilltopper lead to 3-2.
WKU responded in the bottom half of the fifth with an RBI double from Drew Reckart and an RBI single from Tristin Garcia to extend the lead to 5-2.
Three more crossed for the Hilltoppers in the bottom of the sixth with an RBI single from Ty Crittenberger, a sacrifice bunt from Aidan Gilroy, and Crittenberger scoring on an error from the 49ers to make the score 8-2.
Another solo shot from Charlotte cut the lead to 8-3 in the top of the eighth.
A double and a fielding error in the top of the ninth plated another for the 49ers, but it was not enough, as the Tops defense closed it out to make the final score 8-4.
UP NEXT
The Hilltoppers will continue their series against Charlotte beginning at 3 p.m. CT on Saturday, April 29 at Nick Denes Field.
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.
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