Western Kentucky senior Ethan Lizama celebrates hitting a solo home run in the sixth inning against New Mexico State in the Tops' 7-6 extra-inning win Wednesday in the Conference USA Baseball Tournament in Lynchburg, Virginia. (WKU ATHLETICS)

Second-seeded Western Kentucky walked off No. 7 New Mexico State for a 7-6, extra-inning win in the first round of the CUSA Championship at Liberty Baseball Stadium on Wednesday in Lynchburg, Virginia.

Ethan Lizama delivered a career performance with five RBIs – including a game-tying home run in the eighth inning and a walk-off double in the 10th frame – as the Hilltoppers rallied from a six-run deficit to defeat the Aggies. The win ties the 1985 and 1985 WKU squads for the second-most victories in a season, 43.

WKU advances to the second round to face No. 6 FIU with a trip to the CUSA Championship semifinals on the line. First pitch is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. CT in Lynchburg.

“Some patience we had. I thought we just kind of grinded it out at the beginning and finally got it going,” WKU coach Marc Rardin said in a news release. “We’ve seen it a lot this year. They left 15 guys on. Sometimes you don’t win the game as much as maybe the other team loses it – I’ve always said that. They had their opportunities, but I thought Gavin Perry was a huge part for us, putting up zeros, letting us get a chance to have some more at-bats, and then just get it going and break that seal, get some runs. We scored a lot – we scored two in the fifth, three in the sixth, and all of a sudden we’re right back in it.

“We had a chance to win it in the bottom of the eighth with a guy at third, and ‘V’ (Kyle Hvidsten) just needs to put that ball in play up the middle for us and then we would have made it a lot easier for us there at the end. But you work hard and you win a lot of games conference-wise throughout the year, and all of a sudden it gets you a two-seed and it gets you home field, it gets you to be the home team. The correlation of what you deserve in the long season and winning, and then all of a sudden getting to be a home team, all of a sudden you get to walk one off. That’s huge.”

New Mexico State got on the scoreboard first with a sacrifice fly in the first inning.

The Aggies tacked on another in the second with an RBI groundout to take a 2-0 lead.

New Mexico State added a four-spot in the fourth. An RBI walk scored one before back-to-back singles drove in a combined three runs.

WKU got two runs back in the fifth. Reid Howard drove in one on a fielder’s choice before Joe Siervo hit an RBI double to cut the deficit to 6-2.

A three-RBI, bases-clearing double from Lizama brought the Tops within one in the sixth.

Lizama tied the game at 6-6 with a solo home run in the eighth inning.

The Guam native capped an outstanding day at the plate with a walk-off double to give WKU a 7-6 win in the 10th inning.

• WKU improves to 43-12 overall. The 43 wins is the second-most in a season in program history with the 1985 and 1988 Hilltopper teams. This marks the third consecutive season WKU has won at least one game in the CUSA Championship.

Lizama’s game-winning double marks the fifth walk-off victory for the Hilltoppers this season. WKU is 5-3 in games that end in a walk-off.

Penn earned the starting nod on the mound. The freshman tossed 3 1/3 frames, allowing four runs on five hits and one walk.

Patrick Morris, Gavin Perry, Lucas Hartman and Cal Higgins saw action out of the bullpen. Perry tossed 3 2/3 shutout innings. He struck out four batters while surrendering three hits and three walks. He lowered his ERA to 2.20. Hartman worked a scoreless frame, grabbing one strikeout, and Higgins earned the win. Higgins didn’t concede a run on just one hit in two frames and fanned one batter.

The Tops were held hitless through the first four innings, but finished the game with seven runs on nine hits and six walks with nine RBIs.

Lizama was the hero, going 3-for-5 with a home run, a pair of doubles, a run scored and a career-high five RBIs.

Siervo also had a couple of doubles in a 2-for-4 effort with an RBI.

Austin Haller reached base three times in a 2-for-3 performance with a double and a walk.

Kyle Hayes scored three times, including the game-winning run on Lizama’s double. Howard had the other RBI and recorded a walk.