Carlos Vasquez’s walk-off, RBI double in extra innings capped a doubleheader sweep for Western Kentucky as the Hilltoppers beat Illinois State 9-7 and 4-3 on opening day Friday at Nick Denes Field.

“It’s always nice to play at home, right. You don’t have to worry about getting those last three outs like they had to do on us, and we took advantage of it,” WKU coach Marc Rardin said. “We got every position player into the game. We had [Caleb] Marmo, a senior, sitting around and all of a sudden gets into the game at the end and does what he does. I wouldn’t expect anything different in his competitiveness.

“Then, Carlos [Vasquez] had a good day, man. Carlos sat out last year with just a rough injury that we couldn’t get him healthy, and it killed him. That kid wants to be on the field. I was glad to see that for him today to start off the season.”

The Tops got on the board first in the nightcap with a sacrifice fly from Drew Barragan in the bottom of the second inning.

WKU added to its lead in the bottom of the fourth with a sacrifice fly from Kyle Hvidsten.

Illinois State knotted the score at 2-2 with an RBI groundout and RBI single in the top of the fifth.

Another Hvidsten sacrifice fly put the Tops ahead 3-2 in the bottom of the sixth.

The Redbirds used an RBI double to tie it back up in the top of the seventh.

With two on in the bottom of the 11th inning, Vasquez doubled down the right-field line to score Caleb Marmo to give the Hilltoppers the 4-3 victory and doubleheader sweep over Illinois State.

• In game two, the WKU pitching staff recorded 21 strikeouts. That marks the most strikeouts in a single game in program history since at least 2005.

Drew Whalen got the starting nod in game two for the Tops and put up career numbers in his first outing of the season. The right-hander fanned a career-high eight Redbirds and gave up two runs on five hits in 4 1/3 innings.

WKU reliever Cal Higgins struck out the first five batters he faced and finished with a career-high of six total. He allowed just one run on one hit and one walk. Evan Jones also set a new career in strikeouts as he sat down six batters in 2 1/3 innings of action – his first appearance since the 2022 season.

Dawson Hall claimed the win for WKU in game two as he worked two clean frames and had one strikeout while not giving up a run on just one hit.

in the opener, WKU (2-0) scored first on a sacrifice fly from Anthony Westbrook in the bottom of the second inning.

Illinois State took the lead in the top of the third with a two-RBI single.

The Tops’ Ethan Lizama knocked in Austin Haller with a double to center field before stealing home later that inning to regain a one-run advantage in the bottom of the third.

The Redbirds tacked on two more in the top of the fourth with an RBI double and a run scoring on a 5-4-3 double play.

Barragan used a sacrifice fly to even things up at 4-4 in the bottom of the fourth.

A three-run home run from Illinois State gave the Redbirds the lead in the top of the fifth.

The Tops cut the deficit to 7-5 with an RBI single from Dylan O’Connell in the bottom half of the frame.

Four Hilltopper runs scored in the eighth as Vasquez was walked with the bases loaded before Lizama roped a two-RBI single up the middle to put WKU back in front. A Redbird error added an insurance run as Ryan Wideman reached on an errant throw by the shortstop to score Vasquez.

Treyson Peters got the start on the mound for WKU in game one. He finished with four strikeouts in four innings of work while conceding four runs on five hits and two walks. Lucas Hartman earned the winning-decision in the first game as he surrendered three runs on five hits and a walk in 4.0 frames while claiming one strikeout.

Lucas Litteral earned the save in game one as he worked a scoreless frame allowing just one hit.

The Hilltoppers’ offense generated 17 hits, 12 RBIs and 12 runs through two games. Vasquez led the way going 4-for-8 with a pair of doubles, two RBIs and a run scored. Lizama went 3-for-8 with three RBIs, a double and a run scored. O’Connell was a perfect 3-for-3 on stolen base attempts while Ross was also an unblemished 2-for-2 on the base paths.

WKU will continue its series with Illinois State on Saturday at Nick Denes Field. Due to potential inclement weather, first pitch of Saturday’s game has been pushed back to 4 p.m.