BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - Western Kentucky starter Matt Hightower improved to 5-0 on the season, retiring 14 batters in a row at one point and finishing the game with a career-high 13 strikeouts as the Hilltoppers defeated the University of New Orleans 13-1 on a wet Friday night at Nick Denes Field.
While Hightower tossed a complete game on the mound for WKU (23-9, 10-3 Sun Belt), the Hilltopper offense scored runs in 6 of 8 innings. Chad Cregar and Kes Carter each had three hits on the night, while Matt Payton had a career-high six RBIs on a 2-for-3 night.
Donnie White (0-2) took the loss for UNO (13-19, 4-9 SBC) in his second career start. The freshman struck out a career-high five, while allowing seven runs on seven hits over five innings of work.
The first seven outs recorded by WKU after
Ryan Eden led off the game with a single came in the form of strikeouts as Hightower matched his career-high with seven strikeouts by the third inning. Hightower would continue retiring batters, reaching a streak of 14 straight after the Eden single.
A wet field and the rain factored into the first run as after two Hilltopper batters were walked, a slick playing surface turned a likely putout into a run-scoring single by Cregar. WKU added another run in the third when Cregar got his second hit of the night, singling in Payton from second base.
An inside the park home run by Payton in the fourth brought in two more runs, pushing the Hilltopper advantage to 5-0. The round-tripper bounced off the brick wall above the outfield pads and the reach of Eden, giving the speedy Payton the chance to beat out the throw towards the plate.
Consecutive two-out singles in the fifth brought across two more runs for WKU, growing the lead to 7-0 with a
Rodarrick Jones home run in the sixth serving as the lone Privateer run in the contest.
The Hilltoppers added two runs in the sixth and Payton provided three of the host squad's four run in the seventh with a bases clearing triple down the right field line.
Tyler Sanders would be the first to put WKU down in order, retiring the side in the Hilltoppers' last visit to the plate in the eighth inning.
The series will continue Saturday at 3 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m.
