Luke Brown tied a career high with four hits, but Western Kentucky baseball fell in the opening game of a series at Charlotte 4-2.

With a 4-for-5 game, the freshman Brown pushed his overall batting average to .346 and his mark in Conference USA games to a team-high .395. The Bowling Green native has 14 multi-hit efforts in the past 23 games.

Lefty starters Troy Newell and Josh Maciejewski traded zeroes for the first two frames before the Hilltoppers struck in the third.

With the bases loaded and no outs, Jacob Rhinesmith hit a deep sacrifice fly to center field that allowed Kevin Lambert to scamper home from third base.

Newell was scoreless through the fourth, which allowed WKU to take a 2-0 lead in the top of the fifth. With two out and runners on first and second, Brown was hung out to dry on a spin-around pickoff move, but Maciejewski threw errantly to third baseman Jackson Mims. Brown scored on the throwing error.

The 49ers got one run in the bottom of that frame, when Mims blooped a two-out single to center field, then scored three in the sixth to take the lead from the Hilltoppers.

Chase Larsen was robbed of a home run by left fielder Drew Ober in the top of the sixth that would have given WKU a 3-1 lead with a dozen outs to go.

Ober led off the bottom of that inning with a single and came around to score after a sacrifice bunt and a pair of wild pitches by Newell. After a one-out walk, the lefty was lifted for reliever Conner Boyd. The senior was greeted with a double that scored the inherited run and an infield single, then Charlotte scored its fourth tally on a safety squeeze.

The Hilltoppers rallied in the ninth when pinch hitter Richard Constantine and Brown singled to put the potential game-tying run on base, but Steven Kraft popped out against reliever Jonah Patten to end the game.

WKU lefty Ryan Thurston and righty Matt Brooks face off in game two of the series Saturday, which begins at 1 p.m. CDT from Hayes Stadium.