Tops Head to SEMO for First Road Series

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – WKU Baseball hits the road for its first away series of the season in Cape Girardeau, Mo. for a three-game set with Southeast Missouri State.

SCHEDULE
• First pitch on Friday is set for 6 p.m. CT, Saturday's contest will begin at 2 p.m. CT, and Sunday's series finale will start at 1 p.m. CT.

LAST TIME OUT
• WKU earned a 12-9 road win over Austin Peay last Tuesday in Clarksville, Tenn.
• Juniors Blake Cavill and Ethan Lizama combined for eight hits and seven RBI with Cavill's second grand slam of the season and Lizama's go-ahead three-run home run in the eighth inning.
• Sophomore Elliott Rossell tallied the first win of his collegiate career in relief while senior Mason Burns claimed his third save of the season.

BROWNING EARNS CUSA HITTER OF THE WEEK
• Junior Brady Browning was named the Conference USA Hitter of the Week, as announced by league officials Monday afternoon.
• Browning, a native of Madison, Fla., tallied 17 total bases last weekend going 7-for-15 (.467) with three home runs, a double, six RBI, five runs scored, and a slugging percentage of 1.133 in a series win over Milwaukee.
• The Hilltopper third baseman had a couple solo shots and a two-run bomb in the first three games of the series and followed that up with a 4-for-5 performance with two RBI, a double, and a run scored in the series finale on Sunday to help lead the Tops to a series-clinching victory.
• Browning currently owns a .278 batting average and leads the squad with four homers this season.

THE SACRIFICE PLAY
• WKU leads the nation in sacrifice bunts with 25 this season thus far.
• In two years with Marc Rardin at the helm, WKU ranks second in the country with 81 sacrifice bunts, only trailing Wofford that has tallied 104 since the beginning of the 2023 season.
• Juniors Zayd Brannigan, Joey Baran, and Caleb Marmo all rank top 50 in the nation in individual sacrifice bunts.
• Brannigan sits at second with six while Baran and Marmo are tied for 39th with three each.

MOMENTUM SHIFTING
• After dropping three straight, the Hilltoppers have won six of their last seven and are looking to continue the momentum this weekend against Southeast Missouri State.
• After a series split with West Virginia, a series win over Milwaukee last weekend, and a victory at Austin Peay on Tuesday night, WKU has officially hit double-digit wins and is now six games over .500 with just over a week until the beginning of Conference USA play.

SERIES HISTORY
• WKU and Southeast Missouri State have met just three times in program history with the Hilltoppers owning a 2-1 series lead.
• The squads met once in 1994 and twice in 1995 with the Hilltoppers taking the 1994 meeting 5-2 while the teams split in 1995, each winning on its home turf.
• The Redhawks took an 13-11 decision in Cape Girardeau while WKU won 10-4 in Bowling Green.

SCOUTING THE HILLTOPPERS
• WKU is 12-6 after a midweek win over Austin Peay last Tuesday.
• The Hilltoppers have four players hitting over .300, led by junior Blake Cavill (.391) with junior Ethan Lizama (.367), junior Joey Baran (.313), and sophomore Dylan O'Connell (.307) not far behind.
• On the mound, WKU holds a 4.16 team ERA with 168 strikeouts in 158.0 innings.

SCOUTING THE REDHAWKS
• Southeast Missouri State is 7-11 after falling to Evansville in extra innings on Wednesday.
• The Redhawks are led by Michael Mugan at the plate, hitting .384.
• The SEMO pitching staff has produced a 5.72 team ERA and has recorded 125 strikeouts in 152.2 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

Joey Baran

Zayd Brannigan

Brady Browning

Mason Burns

Blake Cavill

Ethan Lizama

Caleb Marmo

Dylan O'Connell

Elliott Rossell