Tops Beat Sam Houston 8-7 for Series Win

Sunday, April 14

Huntsville, Texas

1:00 PM CT

Western Kentucky University

25-12, 8-4

Sam Houston

21-15, 4-8

WKU

Sam Houston

Photo by: Jack Todd, WKU Athletics

4/14/2024 5:30:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

HUNTSVILLE, Texas – WKU Baseball defeated Sam Houston 8-7 to clinch the series win on Sunday at Don Sanders Stadium. The Hilltoppers improve to 25-12 (8-4 CUSA) while the Bearkats drop to 20-15 (4-8 CUSA).

The series win marks the first time since 2009 that WKU has won or split eight of its first nine series to start the season.

"Yesterday was just a complete car wreck – a disaster," said head coach Marc Rardin. "Then, how today started with three runs in the bottom of the first. It was even more impressive what we did. You have to give so much to [Dawson] Hall, [Cal] Higgins, [Grant] Burleson, and of course [Mason] Burns at the end. Just continuing to control damage as we continue to get our runs."

Junior Joey Baran was stellar at the plate for WKU, entering as a pinch-hitter in the sixth inning. The Austin, Texas native tallied four RBI in a 2-for-2 day with a double to give him seven RBI for the weekend. Junior Cristian Garcia left the yard for his second home run of the season in a 1-for-4 outing with and RBI and two runs scored while Junior Zayd Brannigan went 1-for-5 tallying an RBI.

It was a rough start as the Tops gave up three in the first courtesy of an error and a two-RBI double.

WKU elected to go to the bullpen to start the second and brought in sophomore Dawson Hall. The right-hander tossed three consecutive scoreless innings, striking out two Bearkats in the process and earning the winning decision.

The Hilltopper offense used Hall's dominance to their advantage as they tied the game in the top of the third with a sacrifice bunt that caused an error and scored a pair of runs. Following that, Brannigan singled to score another to make it 3-3.

Garcia broke the tie in the top of the fifth with a solo bomb to right field, giving the Tops a 4-3 lead.

A pinch-hit, two-RBI, ground-rule double from Baran extended the Tops lead to 6-3 in the top of the sixth. His very next at-bat, Baran poked a two-RBI single to center field, tacking on two more to make it 8-3 in the seventh.

Sam Houston finally got to junior reliever Cal Higgins in the seventh after he had shut them down for 2.2 innings with three strikeouts.

The Bearkats got with in one run, scoring thee times in the final two frames, but senior Mason Burns capped the contest by earning his 10th save of the year getting three outs in the ninth to clinch the series win.

UP NEXT

The Hilltoppers will hit the road on Tuesday for a midweek contest against Southern Indiana. First pitch from Evansville, Ind. is set for 6 p.m. CT.

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.