RICHMOND, Va. — Matt Ridings pitched six innings of four-hit baseball to win his fourth game of the season and 29th of his career in a 19-4 WKU rout of VCU, etching his name at the top of 91 years of WKU baseball history as the school's all-time record-holder in career victories. With the win, the right-hander passed Ryan Hutchison (1998-01) and moved into sole possession of the top spot of one of the most hallowed categories in the record-books.

"To be the career wins record-holder at a university like WKU is a tremendous accomplishment, and we're all so proud of Matt," WKU head coach Chris Finwood said. "I told him tonight how proud I was of him. You have to stay some place for four years to win it, and you have to win a lot of games. It's a great, great accomplishment for him, and we're all proud of him."

The WKU offense exploded for a season-high 19 runs to help Ridings earn the win, moving his career record to 29-8 in 51 starts. The Hilltoppers have won five of six and are now 14-5 on the season, while VCU loses its fifth-straight and sees its record drop to 9-8. WKU has also won 11 of its last 12 weekend games.

The Hilltoppers used a pair of seven-run innings in the fifth and sixth to break a 2-2 tie and put the game out of reach. WKU has now recorded double-digit hit totals in five of its last six games and has outscored opponents in the last three Friday games 50-9. The Hilltopper offense has also tallied 10 or more runs in nine of their 19 games this season.

Kes Carter's four hits and a 3-for-5 performance by Blake Crabtree paced the 18-hit WKU attack. Matt Rice was 2-for-6 with two runs and three RBI, and Matt Payton extended his career-long hitting streak to 17 games with a seventh-inning home run. Each of the six other Hilltoppers entering the game with a hitting streak of three games or longer extended theirs as well. The Hilltoppers took advantage of 12 walks by four VCU pitchers.

Phil Wetherell, Ross Hammonds and Andrew Zimmerman followed Ridings in the game and limited the Rams to only two runs, one earned, and two hits the rest of the way.

In the decisive fifth and sixth innings, WKU sent 23 men to the plate and scored 14 runs on 11 hits. Dykes and Ryan Huck each hit their third home runs of the season in the sixth, and Payton provided a three-run blast in the seventh. Each spot in the WKU batting order scored at least one run in either the sixth or seventh innings.

Hilltopper pitchers retired the Rams in order in four of their nine at-bats.

After trailing 2-0 after two innings, WKU outscored VCU 19-2 for the remainder of the game and recorded its eighth come-from-behind decision of the season.

Up Next: The Hilltoppers and the Rams return to The Diamond in Richmond, Va., Saturday afternoon at 2:00 PM (CT). Shane Cameron will toe the rubber for the Hilltoppers.