WKU’s Easton shoots career-low 67

Western Kentucky’s Stuart Easton shot a career-low 67 in Monday’s second round of the Ryman Hospitality Intercollegiate, helping Hilltopper golf finish the first day tied for second place as a team.

Easton – a junior from Irvine, Ayrshire, Scotland – is in fifth place individually with a two-round total of 141 at the par-71, 6-943-yard Richland Country Club in Nashville.

He tallied six birdies with two bogeys in his second round for a 4-under 67, beating his previous low round of 69 last reached earlier this season. The 67 ties redshirt junior Billy Tom Sargent for the lowest round by a Hilltopper this season.

WKU leads the field in total birdies (35) and par-4 scoring (+15).

The Hilltoppers are tied with Lipscomb for second in the 14-team field with a total of 580 (296-284), trailing only Conference USA foe Rice (571) by nine strokes.

WKU got rounds that counted toward the team score from all five competitors Monday, culminating with an even-par 284 in the second round.

South Bend tops Hot Rods 9-4

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Brandon Hughes and Chris Carrier scored on a double play in the fourth inning, leading the South Bend Cubs to a 9-4 win over the Bowling Green Hot Rods on Monday.

The double play capped a five-run inning and gave the Cubs a 6-4 lead. Earlier in the inning, South Bend tied the game when Tyler Payne hit an RBI single.

The Cubs later added two runs in the fifth and one in the sixth. In the fifth, Hughes and Carrier both drove in a run, while Zach Davis scored on a wild pitch in the sixth.

Starter Cory Abbott (1-0) got the win while Jhonleider Salinas (0-1) took the loss in relief in the Midwest League game.

For the Hot Rods, Carl Chester singled three times, driving home three runs.

Homer lifts Phillies over Reds 6-5

PHILADELPHIA – Pinch-hitter Nick Williams hit a tiebreaking solo homer in the bottom of the eighth inning to lift the Philadelphia Phillies to a 6-5 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Monday night.

Scott Kingery homered for the first time in his career and Rhys Hoskins also went deep for the Phillies.

Tucker Barnhart hit a two-run homer for the Reds.

Williams drove one deep into the right-center field seats off Kevin Quackenbush (0-1) for his first career pinch-hit homer. Luis Garcia (1-1) tossed a scoreless inning in relief for the win and Hector Neris finished for his first save.

The Phillies have won three of four while the Reds have dropped four of five.

Hoskins gave Philadelphia a 2-1 lead in the first when he ripped a line drive into the left-center field seats. Kingery connected in the second to make it 3-1, sending a liner into the flower bed above the left-field wall.

After Barnhart’s homer tied it at 3 in the third, Carlos Santana’s RBI double and Maikel Franco’s sacrifice fly in the bottom half put the Phillies ahead 5-3.

Scooter Gennett lined an RBI double in the fourth and Billy Hamilton drove in the tying run with an infield single in the sixth.