Series Preview: Hilltoppers vs. Georgia State
Randy Wilson Photography
The Western Kentucky Hilltoppers (10-7), after getting swept in a midweek series against the Georgia Bulldogs, will travel east to the Big Peach (or, as others know it, Atlanta) to take on Georgia State (9-8) in the first series, for either team, of conference play this season.
It’s the first meeting between the two squads since 1993, when the Tops swept a two game set, and outscored GSU by a combined 34-6.
The Panthers come into this one on a three game winning streak, with an extra inning win coming against Xavier (7-6 in 10 innings), and a midweek sweep of their own against Siena, where they put up 15 and 19 runs in the two different games.
The rotation for the Tops returns to form, as Justin Hageman (0-0, 0.95 ERA) returns to his Friday slot, after missing last Friday’s start (which turned into a performance from the wunderkind Josh Bartley). Austin Clay (2-0, 2.42) and reigning Sun Belt Pitcher of the Week Jake Thompson (2-0, 0.81) roundout the weekend’s rotation, like they have all season long.
For Georgia State, they’ll throw out two southpaws to face WKU – Kenny Anderson (1-1, 5.40) on Friday to oppose Hageman, and Andrew Fessler (1-2, 7.58) to face Clay, in an all-lefty matchup. Righty Matt Rose (1-0, 3.50) will finish the rotation, and weekend, for Georgia State.
Offensively, the Panthers are lead by Nic Wilson, who is hitting .439 after 17 games with six home runs and 20 RBI, all of which lead the team. The Panthers, in total, have five guys in their projected starting lineup hitting over .315, and three more who come off the bench who are all hitting over .330. As a team, Georgia State is hitting over .313.
The Toppers will be without leadoff hitter Cody Wofford this weekend, as he sustained a hamstring while beating out a bunt for an infield hit in the 3rd inning of Wednesday’s game against Georgia. Wofford’s Wednesday replacement, Leiff Clarkson, will most likely start in his place, who is hitting .250 in his 9 games he’s played. The redshirt freshman will be making his first ever collegiate start, and Clarkson played well against the Dawgs, reaching base twice and showing some fancy glove work in the field.
It’ll be interesting to see if Matt Myers decides to leave Clarkson in the leadoff spot, or if he will move someone like Scott Wilcox or Thomas Peter.
First pitch tonight is scheduled for 5 p.m., followed by a 1 p.m. first pitch tomorrow and a noon start on Sunday.
With the Sun Belt tournament going on, we won’t be doing a game by game recap, but we will get you a series recap on Sunday, and of course, we will tweet out updates and final scores throughout the weekend.
Let’s see if the Tops can get back into the swing of their weekend winning ways!
Stand up and cheers.