Tops start hot, blow out FAU to avoid elimination in C-USA Tournament
Published 7:41 pm Thursday, May 12, 2022
Western Kentucky’s Conference USA Tournament hopes are still alive.
Facing elimination, the Hilltoppers blew out Florida Atlantic 14-3 in five innings on Thursday at Lovelace Stadium in Denton, Texas.
WKU (36-12) entered the eight-team tournament as the No. 3 seed, but fell to Charlotte on Wednesday in its opener to move to the loser’s bracket. From there, a fast start helped keep hopes of claiming back-to-back league tournament titles alive.
The Hilltoppers came out swinging and put up a five spot in the first inning to blow the game open. Brylee Hage and Taylor Davis started things off with back-to-back singles and Maddie Bowlds followed with a walk to load the bases. Jordan Ridge walked home a run and Taylor Sanders hit a sacrifice fly to make it 2-0. A Randi Drinnon bunt single allowed another run to score and Ridge later scored on a throwing error. Bailey Curry drove in WKU’s final run of the frame with a groundout to second.
WKU extended its lead to 8-0 with a three-run homer from Sanders the following inning — her second home run of the tournament.
FAU got three runs back in the bottom of the fourth when Kaitlyn Cunningham scored on an error, Zoey Jones had an RBI groundout and Holley Peluso hit an RBI single to center to make it 14-3.
Shelby Nunn picked up the win for WKU, allowing three runs — two earned — on three hits with no walks and two strikeouts in 3.2 innings. Katie Gardner allowed no hits and one walk with two strikeouts in 1.1 innings.
WKU will next play the winner of Thursday’s final game between Charlotte and Marshall at 2:30 p.m. Friday. The winner of that game will play again Friday at 5 p.m. against the loser of Friday’s semifinal between North Texas and Louisiana Tech for a berth in Saturday’s final.
Lynn Gardner took the loss for FAU, allowing eight runs — six earned — on five hits and four walks in 1.2 innings. Gabby Sacco allowed six runs — four earned — on eight hits and four walks in 2.1 innings. The Owls entered the tournament as the No. 5 seed and in a single-elimination first-round game beat UTSA 11-4, before falling to Marshall later the same day 6-4 to move into the loser’s bracket.
