Sanders Breaks All-Time RBI Record as Tops Defeat UTEP, 5-3

Friday, May 3

Bowling Green, Ky.

6 PM CT

Western Kentucky University

30-18-1, 15-7

UTEP

24-18, 10-12

UTEP

Western Kentucky

5/3/2024 10:36:00 PM | Softball

Box Score

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – WKU Softball earned their 30th win of the season as Taylor Sanders broke the program's all-time RBIs record in a 5-3 victory over UTEP Friday evening. Moving to 15-7 in Conference USA action, the Tops have clinched the two-seed in the CUSA Softball Tournament and will play Thursday next week.

At the plate, TJ Webster was 3-for-3 and scored two runs for the Hilltoppers, as Sanders and Sophie Weber both had multi-RBI evenings. From the circle, Katie Gardner owned five strikeouts within the first two innings of the ballgame, totaling seven in 6.2 innings of work.

WKU 5, UTEP 3

The Tops landed on the board in the second inning as Sophie Weber laid down a suicide squeeze to advance Brylee Hage across home plate and take a 1-0 lead.

Taylor Sanders picked up her 50th RBI of the season with a double against the left field wall before Weber added more insurance with an RBI infield single after three. Sanders broke the program's RBI record with a single up the middle to score Webster in the fourth inning as the Tops took a four-run lead.

UTEP broke the shutout with a run in the sixth before Morgan Sharpe plated another Hilltopper from a sacrifice-fly into center field.

The Miners caught on to right-hander Katie Gardner in the final inning, they scored two from a single before Rylan Smith came in for relief for the final out.

TOP STORYLINES

The Tops have now reached 10 all-time wins over UTEP and lead the series, 10-3.
Taylor Sanders broke the WKU Softball record in career RBIs with her 178th and 179th RBIs across five seasons. She currently owns 51 on the season.
TJ Webster was a perfect 3-for-3 in the box tonight as Sanders also had a multi-hit outing at the plate.
Webster leads Conference USA with a .417 batting average and 58 hits.
The Red and White are tied with NM State in leading Conference USA in batting average (.300). They lead the league in fielding percentage (.970) on the season.
Katie Gardner is operating with a 2.40 ERA to lead the WKU pitching staff, producing 124 strikeouts at the plate. Rylan Smith is next in line with a 3.94 ERA with 97 strikeouts.
The Hilltoppers clinched the two-seed and earned a first-round bye in the CUSA Softball Tournament in Las Cruces next weekend.
WKU and UTEP are back at the WKU Softball Complex for game two of the series tomorrow. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. CT.

How to Follow Hilltopper Softball: For complete information on WKU Softball, follow the team on X at @WKUSoftball, Instagram @WKU_Softball, and Facebook/WKUSoftball.