WKU Baseball was unable to advance in the Conference USA Tournament, going 1-2 for the weekend, eliminated by Louisiana Tech in the loser’s bracket.
In their opening game versus #3 seed Southern Miss on Thursday, first pitch was not thrown until 12:15 AM CT making for an unusually “early” contest. The Hilltoppers put up just one run in the final inning of the game, and were 10-run-ruled in eight innings 11-1.
Later on that day, WKU took on UTSA in a very tightly contested elimination game that saw the Hilltoppers get their eighth walk-off and 20th comeback win of the season, 10-9 in 10 innings.
On Friday, WKU met #2 seed Louisiana Tech in the loser’s bracket and again struggled to score until the later innings of the game. A six-run eighth inning by the Bulldogs was enough to give them a 10-run advantage and seal fate for WKU’s season as they would fall 14-4.
After a 2020 season that was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Hilltoppers 2021 Baseball season was highly anticipated following a 10-6 start in 2020. 28 players returned from last season’s roster, providing optimism for a breakthrough this season.
WKU went 12-12 in the non-conference portion of the schedule to start out 2021, with series wins over Cincinnati and Bowling Green State. The Hilltoppers faced two ranked teams (at the time) in #3 Vanderbilt and #7 Louisville, proving that WKU’s schedule was no pushover in addition to an already brutal conference outlook.
In the C-USA portion of the schedule, WKU was set to face three teams that would ultimately be ranked by the end of the season in Charlotte, Old Dominion and Southern Miss. With a series sweep over Marshall twice, these would be the Hilltoppers only series wins in conference play, despite a series split with rival Middle Tennessee State.
Overall, WKU Baseball would finish 2021 27-29 and 15-17 in C-USA season play. The Hilltoppers compiled an 18-13 record at home at Nick Denes Field and were 8-15 on the road, going 1-1 in neutral site games. A -43 run differential would be telling of the Tops fortunes this season as WKU would give up 10+ runs 11 different times throughout the 2021 season.
2021 Batting Leaders (Min. 100 AB)
2021 Pitching Leaders (Min. 15 IP)
This year’s senior class is the only senior class to appear in multiple C-USA Tournaments since WKU joined the league in 2015.
InsideHilltopperSports.com’s 2021 WKU Baseball Season Awards:
MVP: OF Jackson Gray
Pitcher: RHP Sean Bergeron
Newcomer: OF Ty Crittenberger
Senior: 2B Ray Zuberer III
Breakthrough: 3B Matthew Meyer