HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Hilltoppers put two on in the second and a sacrifice fly off the bat of Cael Frost scored Parker Coley to give the Hilltoppers an early lead.
- Missouri State struck two in the bottom of the frame to go up 2-1.
- A leadoff four-pitch walk by Austin Haller and a base hit from Hayden Robbins followed up by the 17th double of the year for Lane Arroyos evened the score at two.
- Kyle Hayes recorded the second Hilltopper sacrifice fly of the game to take the lead back, 3-2.
- The Bears tied things up at three-all to end the third inning.
- JP Acosta continued the offensive spark with a single into center field to leadoff the fourth. A wild pitch and groundout moved the third baseman over to third.
- A Manny Alberto single followed by Haller's double into the gap in left-center put WKU up two runs with one out in the fourth.
- With two out in the Hilltopper fifth, a walk followed by back-to-back singles loaded the bases for Haller.
- On the first pitch of his at bat, Haller was hit by a pitch to bring in a run and extend the WKU lead to three.
- The Bears plated six runs in the sixth and seventh to go up nine.
- Daniel Stewart logged his fifth home run of 2026 as a pinch-hitter to lead off the ninth.
- The Hilltoppers then loaded the bases and on a 2-2 pitch, Dalton Fiveash, the new shortstop, laced a ball into the right-center field gap to score Acosta and Kiefer Tarnoki.
- An RBI groundout from Robbins scored Frost for the 10th WKU run of the day.
NOTABLES
- With the loss, the Hilltoppers fall to 19-19 on the year and 6-10 in CUSA play.
- WKU is now 1-2 all-time against the Bears.
- Aaron Robertson started on the mound for WKU Friday. Robertson tossed 4.0 innings, allowing three earned runs with two strikeouts.
- Mick Uebelhor, Trey Reinburg, Ka'olu Holt, and Conner Wolf all recorded work out of the bullpen.
- JP Acosta paced the Hilltopper offense on Friday with a 4-for-4 mark along with three runs.
- His four hits mark his best in a Hilltopper uniform and is the ninth time this season that he's recorded two or more hits in a game.
- Lane Arroyos had another two-hit game, finishing 2-for-5 with one RBI.
- Friday marked the 18th multi-hit game of the season for Arroyos.
- Manny Alberto went 2-for-4 with a run and an RBI.
- Alberto now has five two-hit games with all five coming in Conference USA play.
- Austin Haller had a 1-for-2 day with two RBIs, a run, a double, and two walks.
- Daniel Stewart managed a pinch-hit home run on Friday, marking his fifth as a Hilltopper.
NEXT UP
Game two of the series between the Hilltoppers and Bears will be tomorrow, Saturday, April 18. First pitch from Hammons Field is set for 3 p.m. CT (back on hour from the previous time of 2 p.m.) and will be streaming on ESPN+ with audio on the Varsity Network.
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 X and @WKUBaseball on Instagram.
