WKU Baseball: Toppers Log Perfect Week Against Belmont, Bowling Green State
After getting swept by West Virginia last weekend, and losing five in a row overall, the WKU baseball Toppers came out with fire and furry…
After getting swept by West Virginia last weekend, and losing five in a row overall, the WKU baseball Toppers came out with fire and furry this week against Belmont and in a weekend shellacking over Bowling Green State University.
WKU 15 — Belmont 7
In Tuesday’s mid-week matchup, WKU scored 15 runs on 17 hits, and got a 4-for-5 day from Ray Zuberer as the offense found some footing, and was able to bail out a rough day for the pitching staff — especially the bottom of the third, when the Bruins touched WKU arms for four runs.
Coming off his superb outing against Kentucky, Evan Acosta struggled against the Bruins, allowing all four of those third-inning runs (though, only three were earned) to Belmont and allowed five hits in just 2.1 innings of work.
But, it’s hard to be picky when the offense comes alive, and it wasn’t the first time this week the Tops put fourth a double-digit offensive effort.
WKU 17 — BGSU 5 WKU 5 — BGSU 4 WKU 9 — BGSU 3
In a weekend sweep over the Falcons, the Tops totaled 31 runs against BGSU pitching and saw their record improve to 9–7 on the season.
In the series opener, the Tops used 17 hits to get those 17 runs, including multi-hit performances from Jacob Rhinesmith, Steven Kraft, Tyler Robertson (three hits each), Zuberer, Colin Currie and Chase Larsen (two hits each).
Not only was the offense strong, but the pitching was as well, as Ryan Thurston won his second game of the season, allowing just one run over six three-hit innings and logging seven strikeouts.
The second game was the tightest of the weekend set, as the Tops jumped to an early 3–0 lead after one inning, and got runs in the third and sixth to eventually lead 5–2, but the Falcons didn’t go away easily, scoring two in the seventh but ultimately falling short of being able to tie the Tops.
Sunday was all about Paul Kirkpatrick, who turned in WKU’s first complete game of the year in his second victory of the season. Kirkpatrick logged a pitching line of three runs (all earned), seven hits, one walk and 11 strikeouts in his nine innings of work.
Kirkpatrick got a bit of offensive help from Rhinesmith (4-for-5, four runs scored, three RBI and a home run) and Kraft (3-for-5, two RBI and a double) who led the offensive charge.
Over the last four games, the Tops are hitting .382 as a team and have brought their season average to .288, good for the fifth-best average in the league.
Zuberer’s 9-for-16 week set him up with a .563 average over the last four games, and Rhinesmith’s 11-for-20 week put him at a .550 average over the same time span. The Top of the lineup is getting it done for WKU.
The Tops will play five more home games before heading to Rice in a couple of weeks, as they’ll welcome Eastern Kentucky, Middle Tennessee and Louisville to Bowling Green over the next week or so before heading to Rice as conference play begins.