BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - Held without a hit during the first three innings, Western Kentucky's bats scored nine runs over the next two innings, as they completed a weekend sweep of the University of New Orleans with 14-4 mercy rule win on Sunday afternoon at Nick Denes Field.
Shane Cameron (4-1) went 6.1 innings for WKU (25-9, 12-3 Sun Belt), holding UNO (13-21, 4-11 SBC) to three runs on six hits. The bullpen did the rest, keeping the Privateers off the scoreboard for the final two outs.
The trio of Jeremy Coleman, Matt Rice and Matt Hightower each contributed three hits for the Hilltoppers, who won their 15th straight home game and improved to 20-1 at home this season. Rice tied his career-high with five RBIs.
In his first start of the season for UNO,
Ricky Ott (0-1) went 3.2 innings, allowing five runs on four hits while walking four.
Justin Edwards went 2-for-3 with two runs scored.
The Privateers took their first lead of the current road trip in the third.
Tyrone Wethers grounded into fielder's choice, scoring Edwards from third after Edwards and
Tyler Sanford led off the frame with back-to-back singles.
Ott, who entered the game without allowing a hit in his last four innings pitched, extended the streak to seven before allowing a single to Wade Gaynor in the fourth inning. Gaynor would score two batters later as Matt Rice hit a home run to right center to put the Hilltoppers on top 3-0. The inning was not over for WKU as the host squad scored two more runs in the inning, ending Ott's day.
Three straight Hilltopper singles led off a four-run fifth inning as the WKU advantage grew to 9-1. A Coleman triple to left-center provided three of the runs before
Matt Brown came out of the bullpen to induce the final out.
After Hightower hit a two-run home run in the sixth for the Hilltoppers, the Privateers responded with three runs of their own in the seventh. A
Rodarrick Jones home run led off the inning with Edwards and Wethers scoring as UNO tallied three hits after the Jones' blast, cutting the lead to 11-4.
A Rice two-run double closed out the scoring for WKU, who put up three more runs in the bottom of the seventh to force the mercy rule decision.
Next up for the Privateers is a Tuesday night contest at 6:30 p.m. against LSU in Baton Rouge, La. The game between I-10 rivals will televised on Cox Sports Television.
