BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – WKU Baseball will host the Rice Owls for its final home series of the season beginning at 6 p.m. CT on Friday, May 12 at Nick Denes Field.
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THE SCHEDULE
• The Hilltoppers will open their series against Rice at 6 p.m. CT on Friday, May 12 at Nick Denes Field.
• WKU will then play the Owls at 6 p.m. CT on Saturday, May 13 with Senior Day festivities taking place before the game.
• The Hilltoppers will close out their series against Rice on Sunday, May 14 at 12 p.m. CT.
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LAST TIME OUT
• The Hilltoppers dropped their final midweek contest of the year to in-state opponent Eastern Kentucky, 1-16. The game was called after seven innings due to a 10-run rule.
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DOUBLE TIME
• Through 49 games the Hilltopper defense is top 40 in the nation and ranks second in the conference in double plays (39) and doubles hit (95).
• Three Hilltoppers are among the top 10 C-USA doubles leaders in INF Tristin Garcia (18), INF Drew Reckart (17) and OF Ty Crittenberger (13).
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TOP OF THE CHARTS
• 27 C-USA players are hitting .300 or better this season with INF Tristin Garcia (.332), INF Drew Reckart (.315) OF Ty Crittenberger (.313), and INF Aidan Gilroy (.311) all ranking amid the league's best hitters.
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MOUND MARVELS
• WKU is second in the league in saves (15) and home runs allowed (46), while ranking third in ERA (4.80), hits allowed (417), doubles allowed (71), and opponent batting average (.251).
• Freshman RHP Dawson Hall ranks fourth in C-USA in ERA (3.04) while LHP Lane Diuguid is sixth (3.19) and LHP Devyn Terbrak comes in at seventh (3.51).
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TEAMWORK MAKES THE DREAM WORK
• WKU's offense currently leads all of C-USA in sacrifice bunts (52), almost doubling the next best team, UAB (27), while ranking as one of the top two teams in the nation behind Wofford (70).
• Three Hilltoppers are at the top of the list of the C-USA leaders in sacrifice bunts in Aidan Gilroy (9), Kirk Liebert (8), and AJ Fiechter (6).
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SERIES HISTORY
• WKU and Rice have met 26 times in program history, with the Owls owning an 18-8 all-time series edge.
• The sides met last season in Houston, Texas with Rice taking two of three against the Hilltoppers.
•Prior to last season, WKU had won six consecutive games against the Owls dating back to 2018.
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SCOUTING THE HILLTOPPERS
• WKU is 27-22 on the season after dropping a midweek game against Eastern Kentucky.
• Offensively, six Hilltoppers are hitting .300 or better with the top half of the lineup in INF Tristin Garcia (.335), INF Drew Reckart (.315), OF Ty Crittenberger (.313), and INF Aidan Gilroy (.311) leading the charge.
• On the mound, WKU has compiled a 4.80 team ERA while striking out 402 batters in 429.2 innings of action.
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SCOUTING THE OWLS
• Rice is 18-31 on the year after beating Houston in a midweek contest on Wednesday night.
• At the plate, the Owls are led by Pierce Gallo, who currently owns a .290 batting average.
• The Rice pitching staff has produced a 5.76 team ERA while recording 409 strikeouts in 431.1 frames.
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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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