Hilltoppers to Take on Top Seed Patriots in Second Round of C-USA Championship

Thursday, May 25

Houston, Texas

7:30 PM CT

Western Kentucky University

Dallas Baptist

Hilltoppers to Take on Top Seed Patriots in Second Round of C-USA Championship

5/25/2023 1:53:00 AM | Baseball

Game Notes

HOUSTON, Texas – WKU Baseball is set to face off against top seed Dallas Baptist in the second round of the Conference USA Championship beginning at 7:30 p.m. CT on Thursday night at Reckling Park.

LAST TIME OUT
• WKU defeated No. 5 seed Florida Atlantic, 10-9, in the opening round of the Conference USA Championship.
• The Hilltoppers walked off the Owls with an RBI single from AJ Fiechter with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth inning, tied 9-9.
• The Tops were down 9-3 in the bottom of the seventh when a six-run rally capped off by a pinch-hit, three run bomb from Andrew Delaney, tied the game heading into the eighth inning.
• Mason Burns earned the win while the Tops knocked 15 hits en route to the walk-off victory.

DOUBLE TIME
• The Hilltopper defense is top 40 in the nation and is tied for second in the conference in double plays (45) and is ranked fourth in doubles hit (110).
• Three Hilltoppers are among the top 10 C-USA doubles leaders in INF Tristin Garcia (20), INF Drew Reckart (17), and OF Ty Crittenberger (16).

TOP OF THE CHARTS
• 30 C-USA players are hitting .300 or better this season with INF Aidan Gilroy (.332), OF Ty Crittenberger (.321), INF Tristin Garcia (.321), and INF Drew Reckart (.316) all ranking amid the league's best hitters.

MOUND MARVELS
• WKU is tied for the league lead in saves (17) while ranking second in ERA (4.89) and home runs allowed (54).
• The Hilltoppers rank third in hits allowed (483), earned runs allowed (267), walks allowed (212), doubles allowed (85), triples allowed (7), and opponent batting average (.254).
• Freshman RHP Dawson Hall ranks fifth in C-USA in ERA (3.58) while LHP Devyn Terbrak is ninth (4.03) and LHP Lane Diuguid comes in at tenth (4.10).

TEAMWORK MAKES THE DREAM WORK
• WKU's offense currently leads all of C-USA in sacrifice bunts (56), doubling the next best team, UAB (28), while ranking as one of the top two teams in the nation behind Wofford (79).
• Four Hilltoppers are at the top of the list of the C-USA leaders in sacrifice bunts in Aidan Gilroy (10), Kirk Liebert (8), Brett Blomquist (6) and AJ Fiechter (6).

SERIES HISTORY
• WKU and Dallas Baptist have met just 3 times in program history, with the Patriots owning a 2-1 series edge.
• The teams met for a three-game series last weekend in Dallas, Texas with the Patriots taking two of three against the Hilltoppers.

SCOUTING THE HILLTOPPERS
• WKU is 32-24 on the season after beating No. 5 seed Florida Atlantic in the first round.
• Offensively, seven Hilltoppers are hitting .300 or better with the top half of the lineup in INF Aidan Gilroy (.332), OF Ty Crittenberger (.321), INF Tristin Garcia (.321), and INF Drew Reckart (.316) leading the charge.
• On the mound, WKU has compiled a 4.89 team ERA while striking out 454 batters in 491.2 innings of action.

SCOUTING THE PATRIOTS
• Dallas Baptist is 43-13 on the year after beating Rice in the opening round of the C-USA Championship.
• At the plate, the Patriots have five players hitting .300 or better, led by Nathan Humphreys, who currently owns a .353 batting average.
• The Dallas Baptist pitching staff has produced a 5.27 team ERA while recording 583 strikeouts in 496.1 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.