WKU Baseball Red Hot, Wins Series vs. Sam Houston With Two Close Wins
Western Kentucky Baseball is 9-2 in the last three weeks, including five RPI top-100 wins.
Western Kentucky Baseball is, I wouldn’t say cruising, but the Tops are finding ways to win against elite competition. In its past 11 games, WKU has only lost two games. Five of those wins were against top-100 caliber competition, and the two losses were to top 75 teams.
Coming into the Sam Houston series, WKU was riding high on a couple of midweek walk-off wins, capping off the greatest regular season week in Western Baseball history, having also beaten top ten Dallas Baptist two out of three times with dominant pitching all weekend.
It would have been understandable to go on the road to a quality team that was extremely desperate to win a series and drop at least two of three. Given WKU’s lack of having “been there” in recent memory and a still somewhat cobbled together roster as WKU Head Coach Marc Rardin builds the WKU program in his second year, there would be no shame in having a dip at some point.
Well, no such thing happened, although the Hilltoppers have had some offensive woes during this hot streak (see below).
Against Dallas Baptist, WKU’s bats were not the story, although they did enough to win. Against Sam Houston, WKU came out with hot bats, smoking the Bearkats early up 7-0. Pitching ace Jack Bennett had another spectacular outing, holding SHSU to just one run through six innings, leaving the game with a 7-1 lead. However, as good teams tend to do, Sam Houston gave itself a serious chance at the end of the game. WKU had a couple of key outfield assists that saved at least two runs and a spectacular catch in right field that shut down the most dangerous chance for a Bearkat rally.
WKU would ultimately win the game 7-5, but SHSU made sure to let WKU know they weren’t going to just lay down all weekend.
Coming into game two, Jacob Bimbi, WKU’s most consistent starting pitcher and hero vs DBU a couple of Saturdays ago, seemed to be poised to make another one of his typical quality starts (He was yet to surrender more than three runs all season prior to Saturday). Seemingly from the opening pitch, Bimbi seemed to be off, ultimately giving up several extra base hits and getting ran out of the ball game in less than four innings, having given up five, which again is by far his worst performance of the year.
WKU would get blasted 10-0 Saturday, only figuring out how to get on base a couple of times and nearly allowing SHSU to “no-hit” the Tops (one hit by WKU). The question for Sunday was, “Could WKU flush that and move on?”
Well, the first two innings looked like more of the same, with WKU giving up early runs, getting the starter ran out early (after the first inning this time), and getting absolutely blanked offensively.
However, the Tops were not going down without a fight Sunday. In the third inning, WKU got some serious help from Sam Houston, using two errors and a couple of hits to tie back the Bearkats at 3-all in the top of the third inning. From there, things would stabilize for a couple of innings, with both teams sitting at three runs apiece. In the fifth inning, WKU would get one to take the 4-3 lead. Then they pulled out two in the sixth, and two in the seventh. Standing at 8-3, things were looking to be in cruise control.
Once again, SHSU showed their quality, pulling to within one in the ninth inning. The Bearkats had two on with two out and grounded out to end the game after being down three to start the final frame.
Tops Sit in Prime Position in CUSA
WKU escaped by the hair of their chinny chin chins with a series victory, but the victory put the Tops in an incredible position in Conference USA. With La Tech and DBU playing each other this next weekend, unless one of those two sweeps the other, their conference records will no better than match WKU’s current record at 8-4.
A game out of first place, WKU also plays Liberty in a crucial series that shockingly could help decide who wins Conference USA. Liberty was picked second in the conference, but WKU was picked fifth. If the Tops can continue to put out quality series, WKU could send shockwaves through CUSA and win the regular season championship in year two under Marc Rardin.
If WKU gets swept against Liberty, the Tops could fall as far as fifth place. However, if WKU gets anything out of this weekend, and especially if they sweep, WKU finds itself in legitimate title contention with three series to play, two of which are currently in seventh and eighth place with losing records.
WKU’s lone series against a contender happens on the road at Louisiana Tech.
Without question, the Toppers do not have any kind of lay down schedule remaining, but drawing two also-rans at the end of the year, even if they’re on the road, really helps pave a path to WKU possibly winning a CUSA title, and certainly sitting with a nice top two or three seed in the CUSA Baseball Tournament. If it happens that WKU finishes with a top three seed, that will be the highest seed since joining the league in 2014-15.
WKU With Some Concerns Going Forward
Despite the amazing performance in the last few weeks, the sparkling record, and the fairly impressive “mid-major” resume the Toppers are building, there are some issues that Coach Rardin, staff, and players need to address.
Let’s take WKU’s most recent 15 games, which includes a couple of losses to FIU and a blowout loss to Murray State in addition to the aforementioned 11 games. And by the way, if you’re upset because I’m including a few more games, that’s fine, but the point in what is coming in the next few paragraphs is WKU’s offense needs to pick it up.
In WKU’s previous 15 games, the Toppers have scored 77 runs. That is an average of 5.1 runs per game. During the 9-2 streak, honestly, it’s not much better: 57 runs (5.2 rpg).
As of April 4, according to CUSA’s website, WKU stands eighth in batting average, last in RBI, dead last (not even close) in home runs, and last in slugging. Now, those are outdated numbers, but WKU’s batting average numbers, for example, dipped down .006 from .279 to .273 since April 4. If anything, the Tops have had a slight decreased in offensive production since April began.
Another concern is fielding percentage. WKU sat tied for sixth at a .971 fielding percentage earlier this month. The Tops are also very average in the field, although they do have a good system and a good feel defensively. Perhaps the fielding percentage is is not as big of a deal, but it is absolutely baffling that WKU struggles in two of the three major areas of baseball, but sits with a sparkling record in and out of conference.
WKU also needs to figure out its third starter. The only macro-level pitching issue is not having that third quality starter. Western often cobbles together a staff for one game each series. Jack Bennett and Jacob Bimbi seem to have solidified themselves as the Friday and Saturday guys, but Sunday is a little shaky. Will Dawson Hall, who pitched a significant amount last year, be the answer going forward? He has incredible numbers, and he performed well after coming in against Sam Houston Sunday.
The Saving Grace(s)
There are two things that are WKU’s strengths: Pitching and small ball. WKU’s pitching sits in the top three or four in CUSA in just about every category. With two really solid starters and several options that could prove to be the solution as the third starter, along with a much-improved bullpen, WKU’s pitching staff is lightyears better than most of the versions of WKU Baseball since last appearing in the NCAA Tournament in 2009.
Marc Rardin’s “small ball” mentality is also a huge strength. Despite some of the lower offensive numbers in the league, WKU puts pressure on its opponents by sacrificing over twice as much as anyone else in the league. On April 4, WKU had exactly twice as many combined sacrifice flies/bunts as MTSU. At 62, MTSU was second with 31, an astounding contrast in styles within the league. More astounding is just sacrifice bunts. WKU led that category 42-16 to second place.
Coach Rardin speaks often about why, and it does seem to work. WKU has stolen some games late because the Tops genuinely want to force the opponent to face pressure and make the right play. If they handle it and make the right play, as long as WKU did not get out the lead runner or get into a double play, WKU sees the benefit of that sacrifice, as well, thereby putting even more pressure on the opponent.
It’s a fascinating strategy, and perhaps it masks WKU’s very average offensive ability. Certainly it’s difficult to explain how WKU could have marginal statistic but have a stellar record.
But thinking back to the SHSU series, WKU made the bigger plays at the bigger moments. WKU probably loses without a couple of outfield assists Friday. Sunday, WKU left two men on base up one to win the game. Against Louisville, WKU got Louisville to make a few little mistakes, scoring a run from second with the ball barely leaving the infield. Blake Cavill dodged the tag, and the Tops won (after lengthy review). Against Bellarmine, WKU scrapped together a 9-8 victory via walkoff.
WKU’s “small ball” approach may seem strange in early innings, but it has been paying huge dividends later in the game. With 62 successful sacrifices, through April 4, WKU was completing more than two sacrifices per contest, which really forces opponents into small pressure situations and has the opponent wondering what WKU will pull next instead of just worrying about playing baseball.
Next Up
Western Kentucky has a tougher-than-average hors d’eauvre (that’s pronounced “orderve” in Kentuckian) in Southern Indiana Tuesday at 6 PM CST. A top 200 team, USI (15-21, 5-7 OVC) draws the Hilltoppers in Evansville and poses an offensive threat. In a midweek game, WKU’s best pitching (team ERA or 4.53) probably won’t be out there. If USI can hold WKU down to its normal standard, USI’s 6.28 ERA would put WKU in difficulty in most of its midweek games. This game is no slouch, but it’s important if WKU wants to continue to climb in the computer rankings and give itself a shot at an at-large bid.
WKU then gets the red hot Liberty Flames (17-18, 9-3 CUSA) in a Conference USA weekend series at Nick Denes Field here on the WKU campus in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Other than a seven game losing streak before conference play began, Liberty is living up to its billing as a solid contender for the CUSA regular season crown. Currently in first place, the Flames are yet to lose a CUSA series, standing at 9-3 in the league.
Liberty does not hit for a huge average, but does plate over seven runs per game, a top 100 offense in terms of runs per game. However, Liberty is not just a pretty good offensive team. They also sit in the 90s in ERA, and sit respectably at 139 in fielding percentage.
Liberty is a solid baseball team despite a losing overall record, and they have been playing their best baseball of late, especially against CUSA competition. With two teams separated by one game in the standings, this series could possibly determine the one seed in Conference USA at the end of the year.
It’s that time of year where everyone is still alive, and every series can turn the standings on its head. This is one of those times where both teams better come ready to battle. Yet again, Liberty and WKU stand in each other’s way in yet another sport. These two programs keep colliding in important moments in the first year for Liberty in Conference USA. Just a state away, this matchup always seems to be interesting, no matter the sport.
If you can’t make it up to Evansville Tuesday, or make it to The Nick this weekend at 6/4/1 on Friday/Saturday/Sunday, as always, tune in to @ TheTowelRackWKU on Twitter/X, and tune in to @ RedoutPodcast for our video content, as well as secondary content, and of course, WKU’s longest running podcast.
GO TOPS!