TROY, Ala.?Matt Hightower, the
Sun Belt Pitcher of the Year, made up for a subpar pitching performance with
two home runs at the plate to lift No. 2 Western Kentucky past No. 7 ULM 14-4
in the opening round of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament in eight innings at
Riddle-Pace Field.
Hightower took a no-decision on
the mound after leaving the game in the fourth inning. He threw 91 pitches in
the game and allowed three runs on seven hits with four strikeouts and three
walks. However, he was 2-for-5 at the plate with three RBIs and three runs
scored.
Ben Soignier finished the game
2-for-3 on the night to move within four base hits of tying Willie Core for the
all-time base hits lead in ULM history with 296. Casey Auttonberry also had a
pair of hits for ULM, including a solo home run.
Matt Rice and Wade Gaynor led
the Hilltoppers with three hits each, while Jared Andreoli and Hightower both
had a pair of hits.
WKU (38-16) took a 2-0 lead in
the bottom of the first inning on a Rice two-run single back up the middle with
the bases loaded. The Warhawks had a sure 4-3 double play in the inning, but as
Boomer Blanchard tagged Andreoli the ball was knocked out of his glove allowing
both runners to stay on the base paths.
The Warhawks (28-26) had a
prime opportunity in the top of the first loading the bases with just one out,
but Hightower was able to work out of the jam with a strikeout and a line-drive
out to left field.
The Hilltoppers extended their
lead out to 3-0 with a sacrifice fly by Andreoli in the fourth inning. Prior to
the fly out, the Warhawks thought they had turned a double play off the bat of
Jeremy Coleman, but he was called safe on a bang-bang play at first. Hightower
followed the sac fly with a two-run homer over the right-field wall for a 5-0
lead.
Matt Laird, who finished
second in the home run derby on Tuesday night, pulled the Warhawks within two,
5-3, with a towering three-run home run over the scoreboard in right-center
field in the fifth. Jon Prevost led off the frame with a double to left field and
Matt Collins drew a walk before Laird hit his 10th blast of the
season.
In the bottom of the fifth,
the Warhawks caught a tough break as Perry Smith appeared to make a diving
catch in right field, but Jake Wells was called safe on the play as the umpire
ruled the ball was trapped. Smith would have been able to double-off Matt
Payton at first base on the play as he was standing on second when the safe
call was made.
The play came back to cost the
Warhawks as a throwing error on a pickoff attempt at first base allowed Payton
to score to increase the WKU lead out to 6-3. Gaynor then led off the bottom of
the sixth with a line-drive home run to left field to push the Hilltoppers lead
out to 7-3.
Auttonberry answered Gaynor's
blast with one of his own in the top of the seventh. It was Auttonberry's
second homer of the season as he was making just his fourth start of the year.
Hightower's second home run of
the game came in the bottom of the seventh and Gaynor followed with a triple.
Chad Cregar, who won the home run derby, extended the Hilltopper lead out to 9-4
with a single to right center and Terrence Dayleg added a sacrifice fly. Following a wild pitch that allowed a run to
score and a pair of walks, Andreoli added a two-run single pushing the margin
out to 13-4.
Cregar led off the eighth inning
with a home run to right-center field to end the game due to the league's
10-run rule in the tournament.
Bart Carter (6-1) picked up
the win in relief for WKU. The southpaw allowed one run on one hit over 2.2
innings of work to go with five strikeouts.
Jordy Poche (2-6) took the
loss for ULM allowing five runs ? four earned ? on five hits over 3.2 innings
of work. The sophomore right-hander struggled with his control all game issuing
four walks and hitting a batter. Five ULM pitchers combined to walk 11 batters in
the game.
The Warhawks await the loser
of the Troy vs. South Alabama game in an elimination game tomorrow at 12:30
p.m. The game will be broadcast live on 1680 AM in the Monroe area and
worldwide on the internet at ulmathletics.com.
Fans can
also watch all of the action on Sun Belt Extra by logging on to
sunbeltsports.org.
