WKU softball hits five home runs in Saturday split with Miami (OH)

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (WBKO) - In the Hilltoppers’ final non-conference weekend of the season, WKU Softball split Saturday’s doubleheader with Miami of Ohio, as the Tops took game one 15-7, and fell 8-5 in the nightcap. Collectively, all four on the Hilltoppers’ pitching staff saw action today, as they posted a combined 10.38 ERA. Off the bats, WKU clocked 23 hits on the day, including five home runs.

Senior infielder Taylor Sanders hit an impeccable .857 on the day, she collected her second two-home run game in the second contest with Miami, after ETSU in the second weekend of the season, and six hits in seven at-bats. Fifth-year Faith Hegh also shot two home runs in the first match up with the Redhawks, as she was .714 in the batter’s box.

GAME 1: WKU 15, MIAMI 7

The Hilltoppers got things going first as Randi Drinnon picked up an RBI with a single down the left field line, as Taylor Davis went for the plate.

The Redhawks got the upperhand in the second and third innings as a solo home run and RBI single up the middle got the visiting team with a 2-1 lead heading into the bottom frame.

Designated hitter Kelsey Schmidt earned her first home run as a Hilltopper in the bottom of three. The Ohio native, on an empty count, shot the ball behind the left-center wall, good for three runs and gave the Tops a 4-2 lead.

Faith Hegh later came to the plate in the bottom of the fourth inning and picked up her second home run this season with another three-run shot into right-center field on the first pitch across the plate.

The Miami of Ohio Redhawks came through to tie up the game: two RBI singles and a triple that waged five runs and a chance at a comeback in the next inning, not before Hegh came back to the plate in the bottom frame. The New Jersey native popped out another three-run home run – the third of the game – to bring back the game in the Red and White’s favor.

The Hilltoppers kept it rolling in the bottom of the sixth inning to run-rule the Redhawks. Miami of Ohio gave up four bases-loaded walks in a row before first baseman Jessica Bush picked up a hit into left field, good for advancing Taylor Sanders across the plate and ending the first match up.

From the circle, Katie Gardner got the start and picked up five runs off of seven hits with five strikeouts in her four innings of work. Freshman Maddy Wood collected the third win of her career in two innings of action that featured only two runs, four hits, and no walks.

GAME 2: WKU 5, MIAMI 8

In redemption from the first game, the Redhawks got on the board first with an RBI triple in the top frame to get an early 1-0 start.

Miami of Ohio later hit an RBI single and two-run home run in the second and third frames, margining the gap as freshman Luna Curran was later put in the circle.

A big fifth inning, the Redhawks capped off with a triple down the right field line and a two-run home run straight down the middle to pick up three more on the board and near run-rule the Hilltoppers.

Sanders kept WKU alive, earning her fourth home run of the season with a shot over the wall in left-center field, picking up two RBIs in the bottom of five.

The third baseman from Tennessee found the ball again on a 3-2 count in the sixth inning with another home run into center field, scoring three.

Kelsie Houchens, Luna Curran, and Maddy Wood all saw action in the circle in the second battle with the Redhawks. They worked together for only eight runs off of eight hits, four walks, and four strikeouts at the plate.

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