BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - A bases loaded walk in the
11th inning enabled Western Kentucky to pull out an improbable 7-6 comeback win
over the ULM baseball team Saturday at Nick Denes Field.
Jared Andreaoli lined a one-out pitch from Wil
Browning (4-3) back up the box in the bottom of the 11th inning. Casey Dykes legged out an infield single to
move the winning run over to third base.
After an intentional walk to Ryan Hutchison, Ryan Huck drew a full-count
walk for the winning run.
Browning sat down the first two Western
Kentucky (18-25, 9-11) batters he faced in the bottom of the ninth inning
before Andreaoli sent a single back through the box. Scott Wilcox drew a 3-1 walk to move the
tying run into scoring position. Dykes
lined an RBI double to left field that scored Andreaoli to tie the game at
6.
Andreaoli led the Hilltoppers with three base
hits, while Hutchison added three RBIs.
Taylor Haydel (4-3) held the Warhawks scoreless the final 5.1 innings to
earn the win.
Corben Green legged out a leadoff double to
right field in the top of the sixth, injuring his shoulder on a headfirst slide
into second base. Green remained in the
game, and scored on the next pitch to Chris Dudley, who slugged a pinch hit RBI
double off the left field wall to put the Warhawks back on top 4-3. Les Aulds lined a 1-1 Tim Bado offering into
right field, scoring Dudley from second (5-3).
A sharp single off the bat of Caleb Clowers scored a steaming Aulds to
up the ULM (20-23, 8-12) lead to 6-3.
Joey Rapp paced ULM with three hits and two
RBIs, while Logan Fiasco and Clowers added two base hits.
Clowers extended his current hitting streak
to 11 games with a solid single into center field in the top of the first
inning off of Western Kentucky starter Bado.
Rapp laced a two-out base knock to the gap in left center field, scoring
Clowers from second base to give the Warhawks a 1-0 lead.
Bado hit Green with his second pitch in the
top of the second inning, and Green moved into scoring position on a groundout
to third base by Taylor Abdalla. A
Brandon Alexander single brought Green around from second base to push the ULM
advantage to 2-0.
Starter Randy Zeigler ran into trouble in the
bottom of the second inning, walking Blake Crabtree on a full-count pitch to
load the bases. Zeigler forced the next
batter Steve Hodgins to ground into the uncommon 1-2-3 double play to end the
threat and the inning with ULM in front 2-0.
Western Kentucky broke through in the bottom
of the third inning, as a two-run single by Hutchison to left center scored a
pair of runs to tie the game at 2-2. Fiasco
gunned Hutchison down trying to steal second base for the third out of the
frame.
Rapp crushed a first pitch single to right
center field with two men on and two out in the top of the fifth inning,
scoring Fiasco from third base to vault ULM back in front 3-2.
Zeigler retired Hodgins on a fly out to
center field to open the bottom of the seventh inning, but David Simmons
reached on a single, followed by Andreaoli on a four-pitch walk. Browning got Wilcox to ground into a fielder's
choice and struck out Dykes swinging to strand two Hilltoppers on base.
Hutchison took Browning deep and out to left
field on a 1-1 offering in the bottom of the eighth to close the gap to 6-5. Browning retired Huck on fly out, Kelly on a
lineout to Jeremy Sy at shortstop and pinch hitter Adam Lavelle on a fly out to
right field to keep the Warhawk lead intact.
Browning allowed three runs in 4.1 innings
pitched, walking four and striking out two Hilltopper batters in the loss.
The teams meet for the series finale Sunday
at 1 p.m. at Nick Denes Field.
