Hilltoppers Head to Murray State for Midweek Matchup

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – WKU Baseball heads to Murray, Ky. for a midweek contest with in-state foe Murray State on Tuesday, March 26 at 3 p.m. CT.

LAST TIME OUT
• WKU dropped its Conference USA opening series to FIU last weekend.
• The Hilltoppers fell in game one by the 10-run rule before answering with a 10-run rule win of their own on Saturday.
• WKU utilized 12 hits to scored 14 runs and held the Panther offense to just four runs on six hits to earn a 14-4 victory and even the series with FIU. Sophomore Camden Ross had a career day at the plate, driving in six RBI with a grand slam and a walk-off two-RBI double to end the game in the eighth inning.
• The Hilltoppers dropped game three 7-3 to finish the weekend 1-2.

RARDIN IN CUSA PLAY
• After a 2-10 start to league play in 2023, head coach Marc Rardin and the Tops rattled off five consecutive CUSA series wins, including series sweeps over Florida Atlantic, 2023 CUSA Tournament Champion, Charlotte, and Rice.
• WKU earned fourth place after the conclusion of the regular season, tied for its highest rank heading into the CUSA Tournament.
• Rardin led the Tops to 18 total CUSA wins, including two victories in the CUSA Tournament, the most WKU has had since joining the conference in 2015.
• So far in 2024, the Hilltoppers own a 1-2 mark in league play dropping a three-game series to FIU last weekend.
• They will head to Jacksonville State this weekend for its second CUSA series of the season.

THE SACRIFICE PLAY
• WKU leads the nation in sacrifice bunts with 32 this season thus far.
• In two years with Marc Rardin at the helm, WKU ranks second in the country with 88 sacrifice bunts, only trailing Wofford that has tallied 107 since the beginning of the 2023 season.
• Juniors Zayd Brannigan, Joey Baran, and Austin Haller all rank top 50 in the nation in individual sacrifice bunts. Brannigan sits at fourth with six while Baran is tied for 14th and Haller is tied for 42nd.

WINNING ON THE WEEKDAYS
• Through five weeks of play, WKU has won three of four midweek contests.
• The Hilltoppers earned a win over Lipscomb in the first week of the season, 8-5, before falling at Kentucky the next week.
• Since, the third midweek of the year at Bellarmine was postponed, WKU has rattled off back-to-back Tuesday night wins over Austin Peay, 12-9, and Southern Indiana, 5-3.

SERIES HISTORY
• WKU and Murray State have met 134 times in program history with the Hilltoppers owning a 68-65-1 all-time series lead.
• Since 2000, WKU holds a 12-2 record over the Racers with the two losses coming while on the road in 2012 and 2004.
• The Hilltoppers have won five straight over Murray State dating back to the 2015 season, claiming three one-run wins and two wins by three or more runs.
• The teams have not met since the 2020 season when WKU took a 7-6 decision in Bowling Green.

SCOUTING THE HILLTOPPERS
• WKU is 16-9 after dropping a three-game series to FIU last weekend.
• The Hilltoppers have three players hitting over .300, led by junior Blake Cavill (.359) with junior Ethan Lizama (.352), and sophomore Dylan O'Connell (.307) not far behind.
• On the mound, WKU holds a 4.35 team ERA with 227 strikeouts in 217.0 innings.

SCOUTING THE RACERS
• Murray State is 17-6 after a series sweep over Evansville last weekend.
• The Racers are led by Drew Vogel at the plate, hitting .376.
• The Murray State pitching staff has produced a 4.51 team ERA and has recorded 194 strikeouts in 199.2 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 on Instagram.

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Players Mentioned

Joey Baran

Zayd Brannigan

Blake Cavill

Austin Haller

Ethan Lizama

Dylan O'Connell

Camden Ross