WKU Baseball: Tops Face Brutal Stretch at #7 Vandy, vs. #10 DBU, vs. UL, at Sam Houston
At a pretty 19-10 record, WKU has taken advantage of a winnable schedule but never sweeping a series until this past weekend at Jax State. WKU's toughest stretch offers eight games with no guarantees.
Western Kentucky Baseball has not won 19 games by the end of March since the 2010 season. Yet another Marc Rardin achievement on The Hill, there’s no denying the impact Rardin’s staff and players have had since he arrived last season. Rardin continues to overturn marks set by previous teams at WKU that had historical significance. Since moving to Conference USA, WKU’s ability to make any kind of way in Conference USA has been shaky.
Now WKU (19-10, 4-2 CUSA) sits well, but a huge swing of eight games could put WKU right back at .500 or so for the season.
Vanderbilt is its usual top ten self, hosting WKU in Nashville Tuesday on SEC+.
#10 Dallas Baptist plays WKU at Nick Denes this weekend for a crucial three game series in CUSA play that could put the Tops in a hole or potentially give them a chance to legitimately compete for a league title.
Louisville has not been its best this season, sitting outside of the top 100 in the computer rankings. However, a Power Five opponent with tradition, the Cardinals could wake up at any time, and a road victory in Bowling Green could potentially get their juices flowing.
WKU plays the last of its eight game “Murderer’s Row” stretch with Sam Houston, a team ranked in the top 100 that did just drop three in a row at Liberty, a real shocker. Before that, Sam was much higher than its 65th place in the current rankings. Regardless, Sam Houston has looked like an at-large contender all season, and they just need to get hot at the end of the year to find themselves back in contention.
WKU will almost certainly not be favored in any of these games. Louisville may be a coin flip since the game is at Nick Denes Field. However, no one will go into that one feeling it should be a WKU walkover.
WKU Baseball has a chance to build some serious strength of schedule, and if the Tops can pull off maybe three or four out of eight, that would be completely acceptable. If WKU comes out winning five or more, my goodness, what an impact that could have on all kinds of things!
The danger is losing all eight (or six of eight or more) of them, especially if that includes losing all six CUSA games. In the extremely early season Conference USA standings, WKU sits at 4-2, but getting swept is a disaster for any college baseball team in conference play early in the season. If WKU sat at 4-8, they would likely sit in sixth place or seventh and be almost certainly out of the race for first.
This is a crucial stretch for WKU. This is the moment Marc Rardin and staff could make some hay, or perhaps this could be a huge speed bump.
It’s not the end of the world, but I’m sure nearly all momentum in terms of program attention and fan engagement would stagnate if the Tops were to lose four at home and eight overall in a row after a pretty sparkling early season.
Let’s see where it goes from here, but it’s a crucial stretch for WKU Baseball, and a big chance for WKU fans to see really high level baseball played at The Nick in the coming weeks.