Hilltoppers Visit FIU for Three-Game Conference Tilt

MIAMI, Fla. – WKU Baseball Is set for a road matchup in Miami, Fla. with a three-game series against the FIU Panthers beginning at 5:30 p.m. CT on Friday, May 5 at the FIU Baseball Stadium.

THE SCHEDULE
• The Hilltoppers will open their series against FIU at 5:30 p.m. CT on Friday, May 5 at the FIU Baseball Stadium in Miami, Fla.
• WKU will then play the Panthers at 4 p.m. CT on Saturday, May 6.
• The Hilltoppers will close out their series against FIU on Sunday, May 7 at 11 a.m. CT.

LAST TIME OUT
• The Hilltoppers swept Charlotte for their second consecutive C-USA sweep. WKU has now won eight of its last nine conference games for the first time since 2009 and have swept their second consecutive conference series for the first time since 2010, both as a member of the Sun Belt Conference.
• The Tops claimed an 8-4 win in game one with LHP Lane Diuguid earning his first winning decision of the season while the Tops offense took an early lead and never looked back to get the series opening win. Kirk Liebert had, a team-high, two RBI in a 1-for-4 performance at the plate.
• The Hilltoppers found themselves down 2-3 in the bottom half of the fifth inning when Ty Crittenberger and Aidan Gilroy knocked back-to-back extra-base hits with an RBI a piece to take the lead, eventually leading to the 5-3 win and clinch the series.
• The series finale saw WKU in another hole, down 3-5 going into the bottom of the seventh. The Tops offense exploded for seven runs in the inning to take the lead and eventually get the victory in a high-scoring affair, winning 14-10 over the 49ers and claim the series sweep.

CRITT CAN HIT!
• OF Ty Crittenberger has been named the Conference USA Hitter of the Week on May 1.
• Crittenberger led WKU at the plate during its midweek game at Austin Peay and series sweep at home against Charlotte over the weekend, where he posted a .500 batting average and 1.142 OPS in four games, racking up 8 hits in 16 at-bats to go along with eight runs, five RBI, five stolen bases, and a sacrifice bunt. The junior filled up the stat sheet and notched three straight multi-hit performances against the 49ers, going 2-for-5 with an RBI, a run scored, and three stolen bases in Friday's win, 2-for-4 with a double, two runs, an RBI, and a stolen base in Saturday's win, and 3-for-4 with three runs, two RBI, a stolen base, and a sacrifice bunt in the series-sweeping win over Charlotte.

DOUBLE TIME
• Through 45 games the Hilltopper defense is top 30 in the nation and leads all of C-USA in double plays (37), while also ranking second in the league in doubles hit (91).
• Three Hilltoppers are among the top five C-USA doubles leaders in INF Drew Reckart (17), INF Tristin Garcia (16) and OF Ty Crittenberger (13).

TOP OF THE CHARTS
• 29 C-USA players are hitting .300 or better this season with INF Tristin Garcia (.337), OF Ty Crittenberger (.321), INF Drew Reckart (.319), and INF Aidan Gilroy (.316) all ranking amid the league's best hitters.

MOUND MARVELS
• WKU is tied for second in the league in saves (12) while ranking third in ERA (4.67), hits allowed (374), doubles allowed (64), home runs allowed (43), and opponent batting average (.245).
• Freshman RHP Dawson Hall ranks sixth in C-USA with a 3.17 ERA while LHP Lane Diuguid ranks seventh with a 3.33 ERA and LHP Devyn Terbrak is tenth with a 3.71 ERA.

TEAMWORK MAKES THE DREAM WORK
• WKU's offense currently leads all of C-USA in sacrifice bunts (49), almost doubling the next best team, UAB (26), while ranking as one of the top two teams in the nation behind Wofford (62).
• Three Hilltoppers are at the top of the list of the C-USA leaders in sacrifice bunts in Kirk Liebert (8), Aidan Gilroy (8), and AJ Fiechter (6).

SERIES HISTORY
• WKU and FIU have met 77 times in program history, with the Panthers owning a 40-37 all-time series edge.
• WKU hosted the last three-game series between the two last season with the Hilltoppers taking two of three against the Panthers in Bowling Green.

SCOUTING THE HILLTOPPERS
• WKU is 25-20 on the season after sweeping Charlotte in a three-game series last weekend.
• Offensively, six Hilltoppers are hitting .300 or better with the top half of the lineup in INF Tristin Garcia (.337), OF Ty Crittenberger (.321), INF Drew Reckart (.319), and INF Aidan Gilroy (.316) leading the charge.
• On the mound, WKU has compiled a 4.67 team ERA while striking out 376 batters in 396.2 innings of action.

SCOUTING THE PANTHERS
• FIU is 17-27 on the year after defeating Bethune-Cookman on Wednesday night.
• At the plate, the Panthers have three players hitting above .300, led by Ryne Guida, who currently owns a .353 batting average.
• The FIU pitching staff has produced a 7.37 team ERA while recording 366 strikeouts in 390.2 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.

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Players Mentioned

Ty Crittenberger

Lane Diuguid

AJ Fiechter

Tristin Garcia

Aidan Gilroy

Dawson Hall

Kirk Liebert

Drew Reckart

Devyn Terbrak