Western Kentucky’s baseball team delivered a banner season in 2025.

The Hilltoppers, coming off a stellar 36-22 campaign the previous season, managed to raise the bar even higher last year with a 46-14 mark that included the program’s first-ever Conference USA Tournament championship and a spot in the NCAA Regionals for the first time since 2009.

The Tops opened the season 20-1 – the best start in program history – and at one point won 15 straight games.

Heading into his fourth season leading the program, WKU coach Marc Rardin knows all the success of the past two seasons has raised expectations for the Hilltoppers – at least among the program’s fan base. But heavy losses – via graduation and the NCAA transfer portal – have tempered predictions for a repeat among CUSA coaches, who picked the Tops to finish fifth out of the league’s 12 schools in the preseason poll.

Rardin understands that prediction, even if he doesn’t agree with it.

“It’s an exciting time,” Rardin said. “I think any time you think about where you’re going, you’ve got to look at where you’ve been. And so in our first three years we’ve had increased improvements in various ways with the program, on the field and off. We’re not expecting too much different this year.”

The Hilltoppers open the season with a doubleheader Friday against BYU at Nick Denes Field. The first game starts at noon.

Even Rardin isn’t expecting to the Tops to duplicate last season’s 20-1 start with a beefed-up schedule that includes full home series’ against BYU, Southeast Missouri State, Indiana and Indiana State, home-and-aways with Louisville and Belmont, single road games at Kentucky and Cincinnati in addition to the rigorous CUSA slate in one of the best G5 baseball conferences in the country.

The Tops lost a ton of talent off last season’s squad, headlined by speedy multi-tool outfielder Ryan Widemann – who was selected by the San Diego Padres in the third round of the 2025 MLB Draft after earning CUSA Player and Newcomer of the Year honors by batting .398 with 10 home runs and 68 RBIs while also tallying a team-best 45 stolen bases.

Another big loss for the program came on the coaching staff, as pitching coach Dillon Napoleon was hired away for the same role at Illinois after working with Rardin the past six years. Brett Neffendorf came aboard as Napoleon’s replacement after serving as head coach at NAIA-level Indiana University Southeast the previous two seasons, where he led the program to a 69-38 record.

“He has been tremendous this fall with what we’re doing to keep up with where we’ve been and where we’re going,” Rardin said of Neffendorf.

The Tops did manage to retain a nucleus of experienced returnees to help mold this year’s team into another potential CUSA contender. First baseman Kyle Hayes, the Tops’ lone preseason All-CUSA pick after batting .363 with 10 home runs and 56 RBIs last season, is a huge part of the lineup along with returning starters Camden Ross – entering his fourth season at catcher for WKU – along with second baseman Austin Haller and shortstop Reid Howard.

“Kyle is one of those kids with the quality of person that he is who has done well to get here,” Rardin said. “Did well, really last year in his second year especially – he was better from his first year in in second year and he’s been better this year up to this point. I think every one of those situations comes down to the person you’re dealing with that wants to challenge themselves, doesn’t want to be happy, doesn’t want to be content. Kyle is excited about who we have around him. He’s very educated that way, with some of the other pieces that come in that can protect him and Cam Ross as well, and they can help each other in the middle of our lineup.”

The pitching staff also has some quality returnees, including Bowling Green native Dawson Hall, right-hander Gavin Perry, lefty Zach Lyles and hard-throwing left-hander Dominic Monaco.

“Right now before we get going and the cream rises, I would say our pitching would be the biggest question mark from where we were last year,” Rardin said. “I mean, we were a top-five ERA pitching staff the entire season in the country. I really like some of our pieces, but it’s a pitching staff – not just a couple pitchers – that you need, so we’re looking to develop that.”

One benefit this year’s team has that wasn’t available last year is a full-time home. Construction of the new Hilltopper Fieldhouse necessitated tearing down the old baseball clubhouse, leaving the 2025 Tops without an indoor facility or dedicated batting cages, plus a daily walk from E.A. Diddle Arena from their temporary locker room to Nick Denes Field.

The team has moved into its new headquarters within the Hilltopper Fieldhouse already even as construction continues on the facility.

“It’s been tremendous for our kids,” Rardin said. “Our guys love it. It’s their locker room. They have a players’ kitchen, our own weight room. We have our hitting facility in there. And then you just walk through another door and all of a sudden you’re into a 100-yard indoor practice football field.”