WKU baseball to play trio of October exhibition games

Published 4:26 pm Thursday, August 22, 2024

Western Kentucky head baseball coach Marc Rardin speaks about the upcoming baseball season in the Paul Just Media Center in E. A. Diddle Arena on Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024. (Grace Ramey/grace.ramey@bgdailynews.com)

Western Kentucky baseball coach Marc Rardin has announced the Hilltoppers will play three exhibition games in October during its fall season.

During the first weekend of October, the Hilltoppers will host Murray State on Oct. 6 in Bowling Green before welcoming Team Ontario to WKU for a matchup on Oct. 8 at Nick Denes Field.

Two weekends later, WKU will head to Nashville to square off with the reigning national champion Tennessee Volunteers on Oct. 25 at First Horizon Park, home of the Milwaukee Brewers’ Triple-A affiliate Nashville Sounds.

The Hilltoppers and Racers exhibition will begin at 1 p.m. Sunday, while the contest against Team Ontario will start at 6 p.m. Tuesday. Both games will be open to the public.

Game time and ticket information for the game against Tennessee will be announced at a later date.

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WKU is coming off its most successful baseball season in recent history that ended with a second consecutive Conference USA Championships semifinals appearance, something the program had not done as a member of the league prior to 2023. The Hilltoppers were picked to finish fifth in the CUSA preseason poll and ultimately finished with third-best record in the league standings at the conclusion of the 2024 season, their best finish since joining CUSA in 2015.

WKU earned 36 wins, the ninth-most in program history and the most since the 2009 season. Since taking the helm in the 2023 season, Rardin has led the Tops to back-to-back 30-plus win seasons for the first time since 2010-11.

WKU recorded six series wins over CUSA opponents, winning five consecutively against Jax State, No. 8 Dallas Baptist, Sam Houston, Liberty and Middle Tennessee.

The Hilltoppers ended the regular season with a series win over New Mexico State.