Toppers fall at Austin Peay, 6-0

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. — A complete 180 of the matchup from a year ago saw WKU Baseball
drop a midweek contest to Austin Peay by a score of 6-0 on Tuesday night.

Colie Currie and Jacob Rhinesmith each went 2-for-4 with a double, while righty
Colby Taylor capped the night with two perfect frames. The Fayetteville, Ga., native
threw 13-of-16 pitched for strikes and punched out three.

When the Hilltoppers visited the Governors on April 25, 2017, it was a 7-7 tie after
the first inning and WKU would end up with a 22-17 victory. This time around,
starters Paul Kirkpatrick and Josh Rye allowed no hits in a scoreless first frame.

In for work after a short outing vs. Louisiana Tech on Saturday, April 28,
Kirkpatrick took the tough-luck loss after allowing only one hit, a solo homerun to
John McDonald in the second inning.

After the senior righty gave way to the bullpen, the Governors added one more in
each of the third, fourth and fifth innings to take a 4-0 lead. The hosts then put
up a three-spot in the fifth for a 6-0 advantage.

The Hilltoppers pushed back to begin the sixth, as Luke Brown dropped down a bunt
single, Steven Kraft worked a seven-pitch walk and Jacob Rhinesmith singled to right
field to load the bases with zero outs. But three consecutive strikeouts by Rye
ended his night with six complete, scoreless frames.

WKU stranded two baserunners in the seventh inning and three more in the ninth,
ending up with 11 for the game and a 2-for-14 hitting mark with runners in scoring
position.

Topper Notes
* Luke Brown extended his hit streak to six games, while Kevin Lambert pushed
his to five. Steven Kraft went 0-for-4, but still moved his team-high on-base
streak to 13 games with the base on balls.
* Lefty Troy Newell preceded Colby Taylor out of the bullpen and spun a perfect
seventh inning with one strikeout. It was his second perfect outing of the
season.

Up Next
WKU travels to Charlotte for a Friday-to-Sunday set in Conference USA action from
May 4-6. First pitch on Friday will be at 5 p.m., followed by a 1 p.m. start time on
Saturday and 12 noon for the finale on Sunday. All times are CT and all three of the
contests will be streamed on CUSA.tv.