Tops Welcome Lipscomb to The Nick
Photo courtesy of the Bowling Green Daily News
Fresh off an impressive 5-2 victory over Austin Peay last night, the WKU baseball squad has little time to rest, and is back in action today to face the Lipscomb Bison.
The Bison and Hilltoppers actually flipped home dates back in early March due to severe winter weather in Bowling Green, so they played the game in Nashville, and Lipscomb took that one 10-2. Let’s not talk about it anymore.
Lipscomb brings to the Hill with them a record of 18-11, and went 16-3 in March, including a 10 game winning streak against UConn, WKU, Oakland, Austin Peay, Jacksonville, Middle Tennessee and Kennesaw State.
As a team, the Bison are hitting .295, and have five every-day players hitting over .300, lead by redshirt freshman catcher Tyler Bethune who is hitting .364 with 14 RBI in just 16 hits this year. Leading the team in RBI is Drew Adams, with 35, as well as tied for the team-lead in home runs with three (he also is in the above-.300 club, hitting .313).
Lipscomb is scheduled to start freshman southpaw Jamie Young, who is 0-1 on the season with a 2.84 ERA in just 6.1 innings pitched, but has struck out six. As a team, Lipscomb has a 3.99 ERA, while forcing opposing pitching to a 6.33 ERA.
The Tops will look to ride the hot bats of Ryan Messex and Scott Wilcox, who both had doubles (Messex actually had two) and a pair of RBI in last night’s win. Taking the bump for the Tops will be another lefty, Ryan Thurston, who has no record after 5 innings pitched so far this season, but does have an ERA of 9 coming into this one.
Long story short, the Hilltoppers want to erase what happened in March, whether or not they tell you they do or not. They play significantly better at home than on the road, and want to prove to Lipscomb that last time was a fluke. I’m expecting this to be a heck of a college baseball game.
First pitch is slated for 4:00 p.m., and if the whether holds, should make for a beautiful afternoon of baseball.
Stand up and cheers.