MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – Middle Tennessee teed off on Western Kentucky pitching all weekend at Reese Smith Jr. Field. A third straight game allowing double-digit runs equaled a third straight Hilltopper loss Sunday.

The Blue Raiders launched four home runs and cruised to an 11-4 win Sunday in Murfreesboro. The seven-run MTSU victory came on the heels of 13-run Blue Raider performances both Friday and Saturday.

WKU (14-15-1 overall, 7-4-1 Conference USA) allowed Middle Tennessee (13-18, 7-5) to score 37 runs over the three-game sweep.

“We didn’t pitch it well and that’s the sum total of the weekend,” Topper coach John Pawlowski told the Daily News.

WKU entered the weekend 7-1-1 in league action and had pitched it well for most of its first three C-USA weekend series.

The Hilltoppers didn’t allow any more than five runs over their first eight conference games as they got out to a 7-1 start. Since then, they’ve allowed 13 in a March 31 tie against Charlotte and then 13, 13 and 11 in three losses against the Blue Raiders.

“Four conference weekends, I thought we’ve done some really good things three out of the four weekends,” Pawlowski said. “As a pitching staff this weekend, we were not good.”

Shortstop Kevin Lambert took advantage of a strong wind blowing out to center field Sunday in the second inning to put WKU on the board. He doubled off the wall in right-center, scoring center fielder Jackson Swiney from second.

That wind cost the Hilltoppers and pitcher Dalton Shoemake in the bottom of the second. Middle Tennessee right fielder Blake Benefield hit a fly ball to right that carried over the wall for a two-run homer, giving the Blue Raiders a 2-1 lead.

Two batters after that, MTSU first baseman Brycen Thomas followed with a solo shot over the same spot in right field to make it 3-1.

One inning later, Benefield put a three-run blast over the left-field wall that made it a 6-1 Blue Raider advantage.

“Any mistake – and we made a couple of mistakes early – anything elevated, the ball was going to carry,” Pawlowski said. “I was hoping we might get the benefit of a couple of those, but we weren’t able to.”

Shoemake entered the day with a 3.66 ERA and allowed two home runs over his first 32 innings this season. The sophomore left-hander then surrendered three homers over 2 2/3 innings Sunday before Bailey Sutton replaced him in the third inning.

Sutton gave up the home team’s second three-run homer of the afternoon. This one was a fourth-inning shot from catcher Aaron Antonini that landed onto the football practice field behind the right-field wall.

The catcher Antonini punctuated his blast with a bat flip, celebrating as his team took a commanding 9-1 lead.

WKU scored three runs in the top of the seventh to get to within 9-4. Pinch hitter Aidan Elias scored on Jake Sanford fielder’s choice, and then designated hitter Dillon Nelson scored Sanford and first baseman Richard Constantine on an RBI single.

“We swung it pretty well,” the junior Nelson said. “We put ourselves in good situations offensively to get guys on base and score some runs.

“We had times where we had guys on third base with less than two outs and we didn’t come through. Offensively, we have to get better with that.”

MTSU plated a pair of runs in the eighth to make the final margin 11-4.

After the weekend sweep, WKU sits fourth in the C-USA standings, 3½ games behind first-place Florida Atlantic.

“I told them out there that if someone would’ve said our first four conference weekends, we had seven wins, would we take that?” Pawlowski said. “Everybody in that group said we would take it.

“Now can we be better than that? Absolutely. Do we strive to be better than that? Absolutely. But it is where we are. … We’ve got to learn from this weekend and hopefully continue to grind and get better.”

1B Sims out for season

First baseman Davis Sims is out for the rest of the season, Pawlowski confirmed Sunday.

Sims hasn’t played since injuring his knee while trying to avoid being tagged out at the plate Tuesday in a loss at Vanderbilt.

The Paducah native Sims appeared in 27 games this spring for WKU since transferring over the offseason from Murray State. He slashed .362/.443/.505 while totaling three home runs, 13 RBIs and 24 runs scored.

Constantine has taken Sims’ spot at first base. The junior hit a grand slam in Saturday’s loss at MTSU and then went 3-for-5 on Sunday.

“Richard Constantine has done a wonderful job in his place,” Pawlowski said. “He swung the bat really well this weekend. We’re glad to see what he’s done over at first base. He’s really defended well too.”

Up next

WKU welcomes Belmont to Nick Denes Field at 5 p.m. Tuesday. It’ll be the first of two games this month between the Hilltoppers and Bruins (15-16), who will also meet April 16 in Nashville.

Notes

Pawlowski is 75-115-1 in his fourth year at WKU and 580-433-2 overall in his coaching career. … The Hilltoppers are 126-108-2 all-time against Middle Tennessee. … Sanford has a seven-game hitting streak and has reached base in 13 straight contests. Left fielder Ray Zuberer III has also reached base 13 games in a row. … Elias recorded his first career hit during the seventh inning on a pinch-hit single. … Announced attendance at Reese Smith Jr. Field was 623.

Western Kentucky (14-15-1, 7-4-1) – 0 1 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 – 4 12 0

Middle Tennessee (13-18, 7-5) – 0 3 3 3 0 0 0 2 x – 11 18 4

WP: Keenan (2-4) LP: Shoemake (2-2){&end}