[3] Hilltoppers Face [6] FIU in First Round of CUSA Championships

RUSTON, La. – No. 3-seeded WKU Baseball and No. 6-seeded FIU will open tournament play of the Conference USA Baseball Championships beginning at 9 a.m. CT on May 22 at Pat Patterson Park.

LAST TIME OUT
• The Hilltoppers took two of three against New Mexico State in the final weekend of regular season play.
• The Tops and Aggies split a doubleheader on Thursday with WKU taking game two, 11-9, to even the series.
• Eli Burwash led the Tops at the plate going 3-for-5 with two RBI as Mason Burns earns his nation-leading 15th save to break the single-season program record.
• In the series finale rubber game, WKU clinched the series with a 6-2 win.
• The Tops were shutout for the first six innings before Blake Cavill launched a go-ahead, three-run blast to the opposite field to give WKU the lead.
• Kyle Hayes put the exclamation point on the victory with a two-run homer in the eighth.

LITTERAL NAMED CUSA PITCHER OF THE WEEK
• Sophomore Lucas Litteral was named the Conference USA Pitcher of the Week, as announced by league officials Monday afternoon.
• Litteral, a native of Paintsville, Ky., had a career-night in a relief outing when he helped lead the Tops to an 11-9 win over New Mexico State to even the series on Thursday.
• The southpaw registered, a career-high, seven strikeouts in the longest outing of his career at WKU while only conceding one run on two hits and no walks.
• He earned the winning decision and improved his overall record to 4-2. Litteral finished the 2024 regular season campaign with 19 appearances and a 3.90 ERA while recording two saves.
• He had 40 strikeouts in 30.0 innings of work with an opponent's batting average of .252.

GARNERING NATIONAL ATTENTION
• For the first time since the 2020 season, WKU cracked the top 100 RPI rankings and has been ranked as high as No. 82.
• This is the Hilltoppers highest RPI ranking since 2010 when they were as high as No. 38.
• So far in 2024, WKU has seven wins against top 100 RPI teams.
• The Tops have series wins over No. 25 Dallas Baptist and Sam Houston, a series split with No. 22 West Virginia, and a midweek win over Louisville.

SAVE KING
• After the conclusion of regular season play, senior Mason Burns leads the nation in saves with 15.
• His 15 saves mark the most Hilltopper pitcher has had in single-season program history.
• The Bloomington, Ill. native is just the third WKU pitcher to reach the double-digit mark in a single season, joining Ian Tompkins (14) in 2014 and Matt Wilhite (11) in 2003.
• For his career, Burns owns the second-most saves in program history with 19 and only trails Wilhite (23) in the category.

RARDIN IN CUSA PLAY
• After dropping the first four Conference USA series in the 2023 season, head coach Marc Rardin and the Tops have won 11 of 14 three-game sets in league play that include five consecutive CUSA series wins in 2023 with series sweeps over Florida Atlantic, 2023 CUSA Tournament Champion, Charlotte, and Rice.
• In 2024, the Hilltoppers own a 15-9 mark in league play and claimed six series wins over Jax State, No. 8 Dallas Baptist, Sam Houston, Liberty, Middle Tennessee, and New Mexico State.

THE SACRIFICE PLAY
• WKU leads the nation in sacrifice bunts with 72 on the season thus far.
• In two years with Marc Rardin at the helm, WKU ranks second in the country with 128 sacrifice bunts, only trailing Wofford that has tallied 131 since the beginning of the 2023 season.
• Nationally, junior Zayd Brannigan is tied for second with 15 while senior Jaylin Rae is tied for seventh with 13.

SERIES HISTORY
• WKU and FIU have met 83 times in program history with the Panthers owning a 43-40 series lead.
• The Hilltoppers and Panthers met at the beginning of Conference USA play earlier this season that saw FIU earn the series victory with a Sunday afternoon, rubber game win.
• In the first two games of the series, each team claimed a 10-run rule win to even the series at 1-1.

SCOUTING THE HILLTOPPERS
• WKU is 34-20 (15-9 CUSA) after series win over New Mexico State last weekend.
• The Hilltoppers have two players hitting over .300, led by junior Eli Burwash (.321) with junior Blake Cavill (.313) not far behind.
• On the mound, WKU holds a 5.04 team ERA with 458 strikeouts in 460.1 innings.

SCOUTING THE PANTHERS
• FIU is 26-28 (11-13 CUSA) after losing two of three to Iowa last weekend.
• The Panthers are led by Ryne Guida at the plate, hitting .344.
• The FIU pitching staff has produced a 6.07 team ERA and has recorded 470 strikeouts in 469.2 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.

[3] Hilltoppers Face [6] FIU in First Round of CUSA Championships

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Players Mentioned

Zayd Brannigan

Mason Burns

Eli Burwash

Blake Cavill

Kyle Hayes

Lucas Litteral

Jaylin Rae