Kaleb Duckworth powers Toppers past EKU, 14-3

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — WKU Baseball won its fourth midweek game in the past five
tries, defeating Eastern Kentucky by a score of 14-3 at Nick Denes Field. The
Hilltoppers scored two or three runs in each of the last five frames and racked up
six extra-base hits, while only allowing seven total hits to the Colonels.

On his 21st birthday, Kaleb Duckworth filled up the stat sheet with approximately as
many candles he would need on his cake. The designated hitter went 2-for-3 – while
also reaching base via walk and hit by pitch – stole two bases, scored three times
and drove in four.

Duckworth’s two-run homerun in the fifth inning gave the Hilltoppers a 6-3 lead they
would never relinquish Tuesday evening. It was his fifth long ball of the season,
and third in the past five games.

Hunter Wood went 3-for-5 and caught his 20th opposing runner trying to steal. The
senior catcher has hit in 15-of-16 games, raising his batting average from .267 to a
team-best .311. Colie Currie added a pair of doubles and drove in three runs for his
7th multi-RBI game this season, and first since March 25 at Middle Tennessee.

Evan Acosta made his ninth start of the season for WKU, pitching 2.2 innings while
allowing a pair of runs – with only one being earned. Bailey Sutton came on to
relieve Acosta with two outs and the bases loaded in the third frame, inducing an
inning-ending ground ball to shortstop.

The Hilltoppers trailed 2-1 going into the bottom half of that inning, but scored
runs on a Tyler Robertson sacrifice fly and a Wyatt Featherston RBI double to take
the 3-2 lead. Sutton got the win by allowing only one run in 3.1 innings, giving way
to Conner Boyd to begin the seventh with a 9-3 lead.

Boyd threw two scoreless, followed by a clean ninth frame from Michael Hicks to
finish out the win. Grayson Ivey came in to play first base in the later innings,
blasting his first career homerun on The Hill to lead off the eighth inning in his
lone at-bat of the night.

What’s Up Next
WKU faces Marshall in the team’s second straight Conference USA road series May 5-7
in Charleston, West Virginia. The Thundering Herd plays in Appalachian Power Park,
home of the West Virginia Power, who is the Class-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh
Pirates. The Friday, Saturday and Sunday contests begin at 1 p.m., 12 p.m. and 9
a.m. CT, respectively.

How to Follow the Hilltoppers: For complete information on WKU Hilltopper Baseball,
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