Western Kentucky’s baseball team swept its second straight doubleheader by scores of 5-4 and 9-3 over visiting Bowling Green on Saturday afternoon at Nick Denes Field, completing a three-game sweep of the Falcons in the process.

It was the Hilltoppers’ first sweep of a nonconference opponent since Southern Illinois in 2015.

Jacob Rhinesmith went 5-for-9 in the two games with three home runs, two doubles and five RBIs. Paul Kirkpatrick started, and finished, Game 2 for his second complete game at WKU.

In the opener, WKU got out to a quick start in the first inning. Ray Zuberer III led off with a line-drive single up the middle, then Rhinesmith smacked a two-run home run on the first pitch he saw from BGSU starter Tyler Anderson.

Later in the frame, Colie Currie – who reached on a fielder’s choice – scored from second base on a single through the left side by Luke Brown.

In the midst of four scoreless innings to open the game from starter Colby Taylor, it was Tyler Robertson who singled in Steven Kraft – who had singled and stole second – to push the lead to 4-0.

Taylor got in a bit of trouble in the fifth and sixth innings, allowing one run in each frame before he was lifted after 5 2/3 innings for reliever Michael Darrell-Hicks with runners on the corners. Hicks struck out Ty Suntken and kept a 4-2 lead intact.

WKU got an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth when Currie led off with a single, stole second and moved to third on a ground out by Robertson. The Falcons brought in a lefty to face Brown, who fought off a 1-2 pitch into right-center field for a sacrifice fly and a 5-2 lead.

BGSU fought back with a pair of runs off Hicks in the seventh, but was shut down by reliever Austin Tibbs. The lefty struck out all three batters he faced on only 10 pitches before being lifted for closer Ben Morrison with two outs in the eighth.

Morrison struck out the final Falcon of that frame and retired the first batter in the ninth before allowing back-to-back singles. But with runners on the corners, Morrison struck out Jeff Scott swinging and Dylan Dohanos looking to close out a 5-4 win, which was his fourth save of the season.

In the nightcap, Rhinesmith homered to right field on the first pitch of his first-inning at-bat to give WKU (9-7) an early 1-0 lead. But BGSU (3-13) responded with three runs on three hits off Kirkpatrick in the second for the visitors’ first lead of the weekend.

The Hilltoppers put up a five-spot in the bottom half of the frame for a 6-3 advantage.

The bottom of the order got things going, as Kevin Lambert cleared the bases with a three-run double to the right-center field gap. He was thrown out at third for the second out.

Zuberer worked a walk, then Rhinesmith connected for a two-run homer.

Kirkpatrick allowed only four singles and struck out 10 in the final seven innings for his second-career complete game; the first was a 120-pitch effort in a 4-3 victory April 8, 2017, at UTSA.

This time around, the senior from Austin, Texas, fanned a career-high 11 on 113 pitches. He walked only one and now boasts a 22-to-2 strikeout-to-walk ratio on the year.

Jake Ryan became the ninth different Hilltopper to homer when he took Brad Croy deep into the left-field bullpen to lead off the fourth, which gave WKU a 7-3 lead.

A pair of Rhinesmith doubles followed by Steven Kraft RBI hits in both the sixth and eighth innings got the hosts their final two runs in the 9-3 win.

Riding their second four-game win streak of the season, the Hilltoppers host Eastern Kentucky on Tuesday with first pitch at 3 p.m. at Nick Denes Field.