BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (4/5/14) – Western Kentucky used a five-run fifth inning to hand Arkansas State a 9-6 defeat Saturday afternoon at Nick Denes Field.
Arkansas State led 3-1 after four innings, but the Hilltoppers were able to score five runs on four hits off A-State starter Chandler Hawkins to hand A-State its first Sun Belt Conference series loss of the year. The Red Wolves fell to 16-15 overall and 7-4 in the SBC, while WKU improved to 18-14 and 6-5 in the league.
Hawkins cruised through the game's first four innings and allowed just one run on two hits on just 40 pitches but ran into problems with two outs in the fifth inning. The junior gave up an RBI single to Cody Wofford to cut the lead to 3-2 and then issued his first walk in his last 21 1/3 innings to load bases. Ryan Church then chased Hawkins from the game when he crushed a ball over the left field fence for a grand slam to give the Hilltoppers a 6-3 lead.
A-State tried to rally in the seventh and eighth innings, but Western Kentucky had an answer in the home half of each inning to keep the Red Wolves at bay. Lucas Feddersen drove in one of his three runs on the day with a fielder's choice in the seventh inning to get within 6-4, but WKU's Anderson Miller answered with a solo home run in the home half of the inning to push the lead back to three runs.
Arkansas State scored two runs in the eighth inning to get within 7-6 after Collin Massanelli drove in Matt Burgess and later scored on an RBI single by Eric Wilcoxson. However, WKU answered with two in the bottom of the inning to make the score 9-6 and A-State went quietly in the ninth inning to drop its third straight.
The Red Wolves jumped out in front in the third inning loaded the bases twice in the inning and made the Hilltoppers pay with three runs on just two hits to take its first lead of the series. Feddersen drove in two runs on a bases loaded single and Derek Birginske drew a bases loaded walk later in the inning to plate another run.
Austin Clay struggled with his command in the inning in which he hit a batter, gave up two hits and walked three. Dustin Jones started the inning with a single and Wilcoxson moved him into scoring position with sacrifice bunt. Maggio was then hit by a pitch and Austin Baker followed with a walk to load the bases to setup Feddersen's 2-RBI single.
The inning continued with a walk to Stuart Levy to load the bases again and Birginske walked to drove in the inning's third run, but the inning came to a close on a base running blunder from Feddersen after he rounded third base on Birginske's walk when the pitch sailed wide but was thrown out trying to retreat back to the base to close out the inning.
Feddersen finished the afternoon with a hit and three RBIs, while Burgess went 2-for-5 with a stolen base.
The series concludes Sunday afternoon with first-pitch set for 1 p.m. The game can be heard on 95.3FM/970AM and on AStateRedWolves.com with pregame coverage starting at 2:45.
For in-game updates follow @AStateGameDay on Twitter and stay up to date with A-State baseball by following the team on Twitter (@AStateBaseball) and Facebook (Facebook.com/RedWolvesbaseball).
