Hilltoppers Comeback Falls Just Short in Midweek Loss at Evansville
EVANSVILLE, Ind. – WKU Baseball dropped a midweek game 10-8 to Evansville on Tuesday night at German American Bank Field.
The Hilltoppers drop to 19-19 (4-11 in C-USA) while the Purple Aces improve to 21-15.
WKU utilized 10 arms in the contest with nine coming out of the bullpen. LHP Cal Higgins got the starting nod for the second straight midweek matchup and notched a perfect outing in his only inning on the rubber. Only four of the 10 Hilltopper pitchers held scoreless outings with the other six surrendering 10 runs on 10 hits and four walks in a tough night from Johnny Wholestaff on the bump.
Offensively, two Hilltoppers recorded multi-hit efforts in Drew Reckart and Andrew Delaney. Reckart found his rhythm after going 0-for-13 in his last four games combined with a 2-for-4 day and two RBI at the plate. Aidan Gilroy and Brett Blomquist were responsible for half of the offensive production for WKU with four RBI combined off an RBI single and a sacrifice fly from Gilroy and a two-RBI triple from Blomquist.
SCORING SUMMARY
The Hilltoppers took a 2-0 lead in the top of the second off a throwing error from the Aces defense and an RBI single from Eli Watson.
Evansville responded with five runs in the bottom of the frame to take the lead 5-2.
The Aces extended the lead in the bottom of the third with two more runs to make the score 7-2.
A two-run home run in the bottom of the fifth added to the Evansville lead, putting the score at 9-2.
An RBI single from the Aces made it 10-2 in the bottom of the sixth.
WKU struck for three in the top of the seventh with a couple of RBI singles from Aidan Gilroy and Drew Reckart to cut the deficit to 10-5.
The Tops crossed three more in the top of the eighth with a two-RBI triple from Brett Blomquist and a sacrifice fly from Aidan Gilroy to cut the Evansville lead to two, but the offense could not rally in the ninth, making the final score 10-8 in favor of the Purple Aces.
UP NEXT
The Hilltoppers will host a three-game, weekend series against C-USA opponent Florida Atlantic beginning at 6 p.m. CT on Friday, April 21 at Nick Denes Field.
