After facing an early deficit, WKU Baseball tied the game up in the sixth inning but eventually fell to Marshall by a score of 10-9 on Saturday afternoon. Hunter Wood homered from both sides of the plate and drove in a team-high four runs, while mowing down his 21st opposing runner trying to steal.
Trailing 5-1 going into the fifth inning, Wood hit a solo shot – as a lefty – to start a Hilltoppers rally. Thomas Peter, Marshall Smith, Kevin Lambert and Wyatt Featherston followed with hits to bring home another two runs to bring the visitors within a 5-4 score.
After the Thundering Herd put up two in the bottom half, WKU continued its rally in the sixth. Colie Currie led off with a double and came around to score on a Wood sacrifice fly. Next up was Peter, who lifted an opposite field, two-run dinger to score Kaleb Duckworth from first and tie the game at 7-7.
Although a two-run long ball from Sam Finfer in the sixth and a solo shot from Tommy Lane extended the Thundering Herd lead back to 10-7, the Hilltoppers never quit. Spun around to hit righty against reliever Joshua Shapiro, Wood connected on a two-run homerun over the left-field scoreboard to bring WKU back within one in the eighth.
The Hilltoppers got an infield single from Peter to follow, but he was stranded as the game-tying run. As was Cody Cooper, who worked a 3-2 walk with two outs in the ninth inning.
Topper Notes
Hunter Wood notched his second multi-homerun contest of the season, matching his day vs. Jacksonville State on March 25th. It was WKU’s seventh two-dinger game by an individual in 2017. Still, Thomas Peter held on as the team’s leading homerun hitter, blasting his 10th of the season while Wood reached nine.
Peter and Marshall Smith joined Wood with three-hit performances, while Colie Currie added two. Smith notched his second straight multi-RBI game, starting at second base and batting sixth. Currie, Peter and Wood also scored two runs apiece.
Bailey Sutton got the final four outs for the Hilltoppers, issuing only one walk which was erased by the 2-6 caught stealing from Wood to Kevin Lambert. Over his past three outings, the freshman has pitched 7.2 innings and allowed only one run.
What’s Up Next
WKU faces the Thundering Herd for the third and final game of the series Sunday afternoon at 12 p.m. CT. It will be righty Jeff Ciocco on the bump for the Hilltoppers, while the hosts send righty Will Ray.
How to Follow the Hilltoppers: For complete information on WKU Hilltopper Baseball, follow the program via social media @WKUBaseball on Snapchat, Twitter, Instagram & Facebook.
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Bryan Fyalkowski
Assistant Director of Media Relations
