Sports Headlines

Bado’s Pitching Gem Leads Hilltoppers to 2-1 Victory,Series Win over Kent State

Posted: 3:59 PM Mar 4, 2012
Reporter: Melissa Anderson - WKU Athletic Media Relations

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — Junior left-hander Tim Bado allowed one run on six hits in 8-1/3 innings on Sunday afternoon to lead the Western Kentucky University baseball team to a 2-1 win over Kent State at Nick Denes Field.

Bado (1-1) shut out the Golden Flashes on just three hits over the first seven innings, including retiring the first eight batters of the game. In that time, Bado faced three over the minimum, tallied a career-high eight strikeouts and induced nine groundball outs without issuing a walk.

“That’s a championship effort by Tim Bado,” WKU coach Matt Myers said. “The team really, really needed that.

“You’ve seen now what we’re excited about with Bado. You’ve seen what Justin (Hageman) and Tanner (Perkins) can do. When we put all three of those healthy, we may have one of the best rotations around.”

Hilltopper sophomore Taylor Haydel picked up his first save of the season after recording the final two outs of the game with the tying run in scoring position.

The series win for WKU (4-7) is the first of the season while Kent State (5-4) drops its first three-game series of the year.

“I told them that this weekend, we could look back and see that this could be a defining moment for the season,” Myers said. “We could look back and say the Kent series was the reason that we took off. The guys needed something like that. I’ve been saying that they needed some positive reinforcement to go because they’ve worked so hard together. Things look like they are starting to come our way.”

Offensively, Hilltopper first baseman Scott Wilcox went 2-for-3 with an RBI, a walk and a stolen base. The sophomore has gotten a hit in each game this season and currently has the team’s longest hitting streak. Second baseman Ivan Hartle and left fielder Adam Lavelle each drew a pair of walks.

Golden Flashes reliever Michael Clark (0-1) allowed two runs – one earned – on two hits with a walk and a strikeout in 1-1/3 innings.

WKU stranded seven runners on base through the first six innings before getting on the board with a pair of runs in the bottom of the seventh inning. Wilcox drove home the first run of the game with an RBI double down the left field line. Simmons came around to score on the play after leading off the frame with a single. Hartle put the Hilltoppers in front 2-0 when he came in to score as right fielder Ryan Hutchison reached on an error with runners at second and third.

The Golden Flashes tallied a run in the top of the eighth inning on an RBI groundout by left fielder Joe Koch to make the score 2-1. Right fielder Troy Summers doubled to lead off the inning and stole third base before coming home on the groundout.

Kent State starter Tyler Skulina allowed two hits in six shutout innings with five walks and nine strikeouts. Right-hander Casey Wilson recorded the final two outs of the eighth inning.

WKU continues its eight-game homestand when it hosts Evansville on Wednesday at Nick Denes Field. First pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m.