BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – WKU Baseball defeated No. 8 Dallas Baptist 6-3 to clinch the series win on Saturday afternoon at Nick Denes Field. The Hilltoppers improve to 21-10 (6-2 CUSA) while the Patriots drop to 24-6 (5-3 CUSA).
With the series win, the Tops hand DBU its first Conference USA series loss since joining the league in 2023 and it marks the first time the Patriots have had back-to-back losses all season.
"It's a cool recognition for the kids," said head coach Marc Rardin. "They're buying in to my staff, who we are, and what we're trying to do. The indication was that you get out and hit, but we play the way we play. We put pressure on them, they couldn't handle it. We did it in different fashions. It was who we were at that time. I told them afterwards that I was really proud of that. We stuck to who we were and put pressure on them that way."
Senior Jacob Bimbi was stellar in 5.2 innings of work. The southpaw rung up eight batters while not allowing a run on four hits and a walk on his way to his fourth winning decision of the season.
"It just means a lot. We've been playing really well," said Bimbi. "We just hadn't been playing like ourselves, so to come out here for these past two days and play our brand of baseball the way we know how to play it, it just really sets us up for the end of the weekend. We have a lot of momentum rolling through and we just want to carry it into tomorrow."
The Tops offense produced six runs on four hits with sophomore Camden Ross collecting two RBI in a 1-for-2 day at the plate. Junior Ethan Lizama went 1-for-3 with a triple, an RBI, and two runs scored while juniors Zayd Brannigan and Blake Cavill tallied an RBI a piece with a couple of sacrifice bunts.
The Tops opened the scoring with a four-spot in the third that started with a bases loaded, sacrifice fly from Brannigan. Following that, WKU was able to execute a steal-and-stop play to score a runner from third. Lizama then tripled down the right line to tack on another before an RBI single from Ross capped the inning with the Tops ahead, 4-0.
DBU looked to get to Bimbi in the bottom of the fourth with two runners in scoring position, but a lineout helped the Tops escape unscathed.
Back-to-back sacrifice bunts in the fifth from Ross and Cavill added a pair of runs for the Hilltoppers to make the score 6-0 heading into the final three frames.
A solo home run from the Patriots in the eighth cut the deficit to five and the Tops turned to senior Mason Burns out of the bullpen with two outs and two runners on. Dallas Baptist trimmed the lead again in the eighth with an RBI single, but a punchout from Burns would end the inning shortly after.
The right-hander sat down the first two he saw in the top of the ninth, but a walk, a single, and a fielding error crossed an unearned run for the Patriots. That would be all though, as Burns forced a groundout to end the game with a final score of 6-3.
UP NEXT
The Hilltoppers and Patriots will conclude their series tomorrow afternoon at Nick Denes Field. First pitch is set for 12 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.
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