BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – WKU Baseball will play its first Conference USA Championship Semifinals game in program history against top seed Dallas Baptist beginning at 12:30 p.m. CT on Saturday afternoon at Reckling Park.
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LAST TIME OUT
• The Hilltoppers eliminated No. 5 Florida Atlantic, 9-6, in day three of the Conference USA Championship.
• Down 6-0 in the bottom of the seventh inning, Kirk Liebert got the offense rolling with a two-run blast to bring the Tops within four before seven more runs crossed in the bottom of the eighth, giving the Tops their first lead of the game and eventually leading to the 9-7 win over the Owls.
• WKU will now face top seeded Dallas Baptist in the Conference USA Championship Semifinals on Saturday afternoon at Reckling Park.
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DOUBLE TIME
• The Hilltopper defense is top 40 in the nation and ranks second in the conference in double plays (46) and ranks fourth in doubles hit (113).
• Three Hilltoppers are among the top 10 C-USA doubles leaders in INF Tristin Garcia (21), INF Drew Reckart (17), and OF Ty Crittenberger (16).
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TOP OF THE CHARTS
• 27 C-USA players are hitting .300 or better this season with OF Ty Crittenberger (.320), INF Tristin Garcia (.320), INF Aidan Gilroy (.318) and INF Drew Reckart (.315) all ranking amid the league's best hitters.
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MOUND MARVELS
• WKU is tied for the league lead in saves (17) while ranking third in ERA (5.01) and second in home runs allowed (58).
• The Hilltoppers also rank third in earned runs allowed (283) and opponent batting average (.256).
• Freshman RHP Dawson Hall ranks fifth in C-USA in ERA (3.58) while LHP Devyn Terbrak ranks ninth (4.34).
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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).
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SERIES HISTORY
• WKU and Dallas Baptist have met just 4 times in program history with all four meetings coming in 2023. The Patriots own a 3-1 edge over the Hilltoppers.
• The teams met on Thursday night in the second round of the Conference USA Championship with the Patriots earning a 10-2 win over the Hilltoppers.
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SCOUTING THE HILLTOPPERS
• WKU is 33-25 on the season after eliminating No. 5 seed Florida Atlantic on Friday night on day three of the Conference USA Championship.
• Offensively, six Hilltoppers are hitting .300 or better with the top half of the lineup in OF Ty Crittenberger (.320), INF Tristin Garcia (.320), INF Aidan Gilroy (.318) and INF Drew Reckart (.315) leading the charge.
• On the mound, WKU has compiled a 5.01 team ERA while striking out 467 batters in 508.2 innings of action.
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SCOUTING THE PATRIOTS
• Dallas Baptist is 44-13 on the year after starting 2-0 in tournament play to advance to the semifinals at the C-USA Championship.
• At the plate, the Patriots have five players hitting .300 or better led by, Nathan Humphreys, who currently owns a, .356 batting average.
• The Dallas Baptist pitching staff has produced a 4.42 team ERA while recording 592 strikeouts in 555.1 frames.
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TOPS OWN THE OWLS
• With the 9-7 win over the Owls on Friday night, WKU has now beaten FAU five out of five times this season with two wins coming in postseason play.
• Prior to 2023, the Tops had never swept FAU in program history and have only won two series against the Owls dating back to the first matchup between the sides in 2007.
• In four of the five wins this year, Florida Atlantic has held a lead of three or more with, at most, four innings to play and the Hilltoppers were able to complete come from behind wins in all four.
•The Tops have won three of the five after coming back from a six-run deficit in at least the sixth inning or later.
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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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