Box Score
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – Western Kentucky's pitchers kept Redbird batters guessing as the Hilltoppers struck out 20 Illinois State players in a 13-6 win for the hosts Friday afternoon at Nick Denes Field.
The Redbirds' game at Western Kentucky scheduled for Saturday has been postponed due to expected cold temperatures. The teams will either play a doubleheader on Sunday, or play Sunday's scheduled game and another single game on Monday.
Western Kentucky (6-9) jumped on the Redbirds early with five runs over the first three innings Friday. Illinois State (2-8) cut the lead to two with three runs in the top of the fourth inning, but the Hilltoppers got three runs back in the fifth and Illinois State never seriously threatened again as Western Kentucky won the opening game of the series Friday.
WKU starter Ryan Thurston fanned a career-high 14 batters over the first six innings and Kevin Elder tallied six strikeouts over the final three innings to pick up the save, sending the Redbirds to their seventh-consecutive loss.
The Hilltoppers got on the scoreboard first on a two-run home run from Hunter Wood in the bottom of the first inning. In the second, Kevin Lambert's squeeze bunt scored Grayson Ivey, who led off the inning with a double to center field. The hosts added two more to make it a 5-0 lead in the third, thanks to a sacrifice fly from Thomas Peter and an RBI double from Nathan Methvin.
The Redbirds got three of those runs back, however, in the top of the fourth. With two outs, Nick Zouras provided a two-run double to score Ryan Hutchinson and Collin Braithwaite. John Rave then promptly drove in Zouras with a single up the middle.
Western Kentucky restored a five-run lead in the fifth inning, thanks to a sacrifice fly from Ivey and a two-run double from Colie Currie.
The Redbirds got one back in the top of the seventh with a two-out double from Owen Miller that scored Bryce Grimm from first base, and another in the eighth when Rave plated Jordan Libman with a two-out RBI triple.
The Hilltoppers ended the Redbirds' comeback bid in the bottom of the inning, though, by scoring four insurance runs. Methvin started the rally by drawing a bases-loaded walk to bring in the first run. A two-run double from Ivey kept the rally going, and an RBI groundout moments later from Currie scored Methvin.
Illinois State got one run back in the top of the ninth on Noah Sadler's RBI single to score Zach Barnhart.
Miller, Sadler, Braithwaite and Rave tallied two hits each for the Redbirds to account for eight of the team's 10 hits. Zouras and Rave drove in two runs apiece.
Redbirds starter Jack Landwehr allowed eight runs over 4.2 innings of work. Jeff Lindgren worked 1.1 scoreless innings before Michael Sebby and Braden Niksich allowed one run each in relief appearances. Jack Bellinger was charged with three runs in the eighth inning. Jeffrey Barton recorded the final two outs of the game for the Redbirds.
Information and updates on the Redbirds' remaining games at Western Kentucky will be available at GoRedbirds.com. Fans can also follow @RedbirdBaseball on Twitter for live updates and more.
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