WKU Baseball: Paul Kirkpatrick begins road to World Baseball Classic

The Hilltoppers were represented on the world’s largest international stage this past summer during the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, but the…

The Hilltoppers were represented on the world’s largest international stage this past summer during the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, but the international competition isn’t complete for Toppers this year.

Baseball transfer Paul Kirkpatrick, a right-handed pitcher and London native, will be representing his homeland this weekend in the final World Baseball Classic qualifying round in Brooklyn. Great Britain will be competing against Brazil, Pakistan and Israel for the final spot in this coming spring’s WBC.

Kirkpatrick logged a 3–2 record with a 6.61 ERA over 20 games in 2015 with Wake Forrest and went 4–3 with a 6.09 ERA and two saves in 12 games last year with McClennan Community College (Texas).

Great Britain opens qualifying tonight at 6 p.m. CT against Israel and will play tomorrow night at 6 p.m. against either Pakistan or Brazil (who will play the first game of the qualifier today at 11 a.m.).

The winner of the qualifier will be placed in Pool B of the WBC, to be held in Seoul, Korea along with Korea, Chinese Taipei and the Netherlands.

For those interested in seeing Kirkpatrick and his GB mates, MLB.com will provide a free live stream of the game.