Western Kentucky’s lineup got back on track in a big way Tuesday afternoon against Bellarmine at Nick Denes Field.

After tallying just three runs total in a pair of losses at UNC Asheville this past weekend, the Hilltoppers erupted for double digits with a 14-2 win that took just seven innings.

The Tops piled up 13 hits in all, with junior left fielder Eli Burwash coming through with a career day at the plate – 4-for-4 with a pair of doubles and an RBI. The four hits was a career-best for the Bowling Green native.

“We didn’t have midweeks the past couple of weeks,” Burwash said. “I just came out and took full advantage of our live at-bats and just tried to feel comfortable again and just make the most out of it.”

Burwash has seen an uptick in playing time with starting outfielder Cristian Garcia still recovering from an oblique injury, and Rardin opted to let Dylan O’Connell sit out to rest a sore hamstring Tuesday. That opened up two outfield spots, with Caleb Marmo and Burwash getting the starts.

“He played against Asheville and really did OK, had a lot of our better at-bats,” WKU head coach Marc Rardin said of Burwash. “Even though we weren’t doing a whole lot there this past weekend, he was one who probably had some of our better at-bats. Without a doubt, he’s in the mix.”

All that offense was more than enough to back a bullpen game by WKU’s pitching staff – as it turned out, the Hilltoppers’ hurlers didn’t need all that much help. Seven Tops pitchers worked one inning apiece, with starter Lane Diuguid the only one of the group with significant innings pitched this season.

Diuguid pitched a scoreless opening inning and the parade of relievers followed – Elliott Rossell, Jace Kirby, Tyler Rardin, Patrick Morris, Luke Leverton and Zach Lyles. That group combined to allow just two runs off five hits and a pair of walks.

“I was telling the pitching staff that I was really pleased because a lot of guys did get opportunities today that haven’t had them in two weeks, three weeks other than throwing in some kind of practices – but that’s not the same,” Rardin said. “So to get out and you have a little bit of that drive and a little bit of that inner want-to – when they get their opportunity they want to do well.”

WKU (32-16) jumped out to a two-run lead in the bottom of the first inning against Bellarmine freshman starting pitcher Chase Carver – a Warren East High School graduate.

Blake Cavill’s RBI single opened the scoring for the Tops, with Ethan Lizama doubling the advantage with an RBI double.

Carver worked a scoreless second inning before exiting as the Knights also got a group of pitchers some work.

Bellarmine (7-41) halved the Tops’ lead in the top of the third with a solo home run from Casey Sorg, but the Hilltoppers answered with a four-run rally in the bottom of the inning. Joey Baran knocked in a run with a single, then Brady Browning connected on a towering three-run homer over the left-field wall to push the lead to 6-2.

With a huge weekend road series coming up starting Friday against Conference USA rival Louisiana Tech – a matchup of the top two teams in the current CUSA standings – Browning was glad to see the his team snap out of the mini-funk it had fallen into over the past week.

“It was a really good opportunity for us to do what we needed to do so that we could prepare for this weekend coming up,” said Browning, a junior who played third base Tuesday. “It is a big weekend and we know that, but it was really big for us to focus today and get our job done.”

The Hilltoppers kept pouring on the offense, plating four runs in the bottom of the fourth, then another in the fifth and finally a three-run rally in the sixth.

Bellarmine got one run back in the top of the seventh, but that was it in a game both teams agreed beforehand would end with a 10-run margin after seven innings.

Browning had a 2-for-4 day with a home run and three RBIs, Lizama was 2-for-3 with a double and two RBIs, Marmo went 2-for-4 with two RBIs and Baran knocked in a pair of runs for the Tops.

“On the hitting side, each guy (with) that individualism with what we were trying to do … really letting some balls get to us more,” Rardin said. “You saw a lot more back-side base hits, line drives, things of that nature. Timing’s everything, so if they’re just going to be out front they’re going to roll over and they’re going to pop up if they don’t have timing. You can be as good as you want to be and as strong as you want to be, if you don’t have timing you’re getting yourself out. So what you saw today was a lot more balls getting to the plate, especially those ones middle to away, and we were going the other way with them. We made a point of it and the guys have done great with it.”

Now it’s on to Ruston, Louisiana, where the second-place Bulldogs hope to reel in the Tops. WKU has a one-game lead in the CUSA standings at 13-5 in conference play, with Louisiana Tech and Dallas Baptist just a game back at 12-6 and Liberty two back at 11-7.

“It’s going to be fun, it’s going to be a crazy atmosphere,” Rardin said. “They’ve got tremendous tradition and they have a passionate fanbase down in Louisiana.”

Bellarmine 001 000 1 – 2 5 4

WKU 204 413 x – 14 13 2

WP: Leverton (2-0). LP: Carver (0-5){&end}