Tops down Southeast Missouri 8-3 for third straight win
Published 11:45 pm Friday, March 15, 2024
- Western Kentucky sophomore starting pitcher Jack Bennett earned his second win of the season in Friday's 8-3 win against Southeast Missouri in Cape Girardeau, Missouri.
Western Kentucky’s baseball team defeated Southeast Missouri 8-3 on Friday at Capaha Field in Cape Girardeau, Missouri.
This marks the Hilltoppers’ third win in a row and the seventh victory in their last eight games.
“We still have things to work on, like everybody does,” WKU coach Marc Rardin said in a news release. “We came away with it and we got some timely hits. We handled the bat pretty well, moved runners around and played the small game to force some pressure defensively. We did our thing and Jack Bennett gave us the start that he did.”
Junior Zayd Brannigan recorded a career high four hits to go along with an RBI for WKU (13-6). Junior Cristian Garcia knocked in a trio of runs with two hits, while junior Caleb Marmo and sophomore Camden Ross each tallied two hits and an RBI apiece.
On the mound, sophomore Bennett got the start and the sophomore struck out four batters while allowing three runs (two earned) to claim his second win of the season.
Three Hilltoppers made their way out of the bullpen in the final three innings with senior Cory Bosecker, junior Grant Burleson and Mason Burns combining for five strikeouts without conceding a run.
Junior Joey Baran gave the Hilltoppers the lead in the third inning as he reached on a fielder’s choice sacrifice bunt to score Brannigan before junior Blake Cavill tacked on another run with an RBI groundout.
Southeast Missouri (7-12) hit a solo home run in the home half of the frame to cut its deficit to one, but in the top of the fourth, Garcia extended the lead back to two with a sacrifice fly. An RBI single from Marmo added another for the Hilltoppers to make the score 4-1 after three and a half innings.
WKU added another run in the fifth on a sacrifice fly from Ross, but the Redhawks answered in the bottom of the sixth with two runs to cut the Tops’ lead in half, making it 5-3.
Garcia got those runs back as he delivered a two-run single in the top of the seventh. In the ninth, the Tops added another run from the bat of Brannigan to bring to total to 8-3.
The Hilltoppers and Redhawks will continue their series Saturday afternoon at Capaha Field. First pitch is set for 2 p.m. CT.