Bennett Fans 11 as Tops Upset #8 Dallas Baptist in Series Opener

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – A career-night from sophomore Jack Bennett led WKU Baseball to an upset over No. 8 Dallas Baptist 4-1 on Friday at Nick Denes Field. The Hilltoppers improve to 20-10 (5-2 CUSA) while the Patriots drops to 24-5 (5-2 CUSA).

“It started and ended on the mound tonight and it was Jack Bennett’s night,” said head coach Marc Rardin. “He just didn’t give them anything. I know he walked three, but he controlled it when he did it. He was under barrels, and he had them guessing. He strikes out 11. He gave us a chance every inning. Even when we had uncompetitive offense and went one, two, three on the offensive side when you think they could maybe get some momentum when they come to the plate. He just never gave it to them.”

Bennett set new career-highs in strikeouts, innings pitched, and pitches thrown as he fanned 11 batters in 8.2 frames on 118 pitches. He only allowed one run, lowering his ERA to 3.47.

Aside from the run scored by Dallas Baptist in the fifth, the Patriots never had a runner reach third base and only advanced into scoring position three times.

At the plate, junior Austin Haller tallied the only multi-hit outing going 3-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored. Junior Caleb Marmo hit his first home run as a Hilltopper in a 1-for-3 night with two RBI and a run scored. Sophomore Camden Ross added another RBI in a 1-for-4 performance with a double.

The Tops jumped on the Patriots early with a two-out, RBI double from Ross to give them a 1-0 lead after one.

Dallas Baptist was able to knot things up in the top of the fifth with an RBI double of its own, but a two-run blast from Marmo put the Tops right back in front 3-1.

Haller’s third hit of the day tacked on an insurance run for WKU with two outs in the sixth, making the score 4-1.

Senior Mason Burns earned his seventh save of the season, claiming a strikeout with three pitches out of the pen for the final out.

UP NEXT

The Hilltoppers and Patriots will continue their series tomorrow afternoon at Nick Denes Field. First pitch is set for 4 p.m. CT.