WKU TAKES GAME 2 OF SERIES, 10-3

Saturday, March 11

Bowling Green, Ky.

2 p.m.

South Dakota State University

3-7

Western Kentucky

12-4

South Dakota State

Western Kentucky

Photo by: Dave Eggen/Inertia

3/11/2023 8:01:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — Western Kentucky put together a two-out rally in the third inning to score four times and went on to defeat South Dakota State, 10-3, Saturday afternoon in the middle game of a three-game nonconference baseball series at Nick Denes Field.

In winning the first two games of the series, the Hilltoppers improved to 12-4 overall. SDSU dropped to 3-7 as its losing streak reached three games.

Jackrabbit starter Brady Hawkins, who worked out of a jam in the second inning, ran into further trouble in the third after retiring the first two WKU batters on ground balls. Drew Reckart, who was 4-for-5, and Tristin Garcia hit back-to-back doubles for the first run of the frame, while Kirk Liebert and Lukas Farris followed with consecutive home runs for a 4-0 lead.

WKU tacked on two runs in the fourth inning on solo home runs by Ty Crittenberger and Reckart off Jackrabbit reliever Alex Clemons. Reckart added a two-run single as part of a three-run fifth inning as the Hilltoppers increased their lead to 9-0.

Hilltopper starter Dawson Hall faced the minimum number of batters through five innings before SDSU broke through with a pair of runs in the top of the sixth. Adam Benes led off the frame with a single up the middle for the Jackrabbits' first hit of the game and Reece Anderson followed two batters later with a base hit. Ryan McDonald then delivered a two-run single for his sixth hit of the series.

Dawson Parry doubled and scored on a groundout in the seventh inning for the final Jackrabbit run of the game.

Hall struck out two over 5 /13 innings, while Jack Bennett fanned four batters over the final 3 2/3 innings to pick up the save.

For the Jackrabbits, Eli Sundquist notched strikeouts on six of the seven outs he recorded and Jake Goble tossed a scoreless ninth inning.

WKU finished with a 15-6 advantage in hits. Benes paced the Jackrabbits with a 2-for-3 afternoon at the plate.

UP NEXT
The series finale is slated for 1 p.m. Sunday.

NOTES

Western Kentucky has won the only two matchups in the all-time series
McDonald reached base safely for the 43^rd consecutive game
McDonald took over the team lead in runs batted in with 12
Parry has hit safely in all 10 games this season and has a 12-game hitting streak dating back to last season
The Jackrabbits did not hit a home run for the first time this season
Four SDSU pitchers combined for 12 strikeouts and only two walks in Saturday's game

-GoJacks.com-