By Brad Stephens

Bowling Green Daily News

John Pawlowski says some of his players can be “noisemakers” in the Western Kentucky dugout.

But when Jake Sanford walked up to the plate Tuesday at Eastern Kentucky, that noise subsided.

“When he came up for every at-bat, it got quieter and quieter,” the Hilltopper coach Pawlowski said, “because everyone just wanted to watch to see what would happen.”

Sanford gave his teammates an afternoon to remember Tuesday in Richmond. He walloped three home runs and tallied eight RBIs in a 12-9 WKU win, continuing a recent tear.

That performance followed another huge day Sunday in Miami. Sanford hit a pair of three-run homers, scored five times and drove in seven runs in a 15-1 win at Florida International.

Sanford leads Conference USA with 12 home runs, all of which have come since March 2. The next closest C-USA hitter on that list, Andrew Dunlap of Rice, has seven.

“It’s been sort of crazy, sort of surreal for now,” the junior Sanford said. “It feels like I’m playing a video game.”

Sanford also leads Conference USA in slugging percentage (.846), runs scored (29) and RBIs (35).

“We knew he had some power to all fields,” Pawlowski said. “But to actually see it come to fruition game after game after game is just remarkable. It’s unbelievable what we’ve seen.”

Pawlowski recruited the first baseman/outfielder to WKU from McCook (Neb.) Community College. Sanford earned a spot in the heart of the Toppers’ batting order and has shown why with his prolific hitting.

“He’s just been outstanding in everything that he’s done, the way he’s gone about his work ethic, the commitment he’s shown in the batting cages, the time,” Pawlowski said. “It’s just great to see somebody have that incredible success that he’s had.”

Sanford grew up north of the border in Dartmouth, N.S. – explaining why the slugger’s teammates and coaches call him “Nova.”

He was a multi-sport athlete growing up, playing baseball, football, badminton, hockey, tennis and volleyball.

Hockey was Sanford’s favorite sport as a youngster, he said. He was a goalie on the ice. Playing that position honed his reaction time, which has paid off in baseball.

“It was a little scary at times when the puck’s flying at your head and everything,” Sanford said. “But it was fun.”

Sanford focused more on baseball and volleyball when he got to high school and was an all-region performer in both sports. He chose to pursue baseball, came to the US and, after a stint at junior college, landed at WKU.

Once Sanford is done with his ball career, he said he wants to go back to Nova Scotia and help young athletes like himself.

Sanford said the baseball culture in his homeland is “starting to grow.” He listed Cincinnati Reds star Joey Votto (Etobicoke, Ont.) and former Major League All-Star Jason Bay (Trail, BC) as Canadian players he’s looked up to.

“When I’m done with it, I want to go back and open a facility and try to help kids get to where I am here and get to the States,” Sanford said. “In Canada, there’s not much for recruitment. I want to help them with that.”

The Tops went through a rough patch from March 1-13, losing seven games in a row. Now WKU has won six of eight and stands 12-11 overall and, more importantly, 5-1 in conference play.

Sanford and the Hilltoppers will host Charlotte this weekend for a three-game series.

WKU hasn’t qualified for a Conference USA Tournament since joining the league before the 2015 season. This 2019 Toppers are trying to buck that trend and are tied for second place in the league heading into this weekend.

“We’re playing really good right now,” Sanford said. “We found our stride and we’re going to stick with it and see how it keeps going from there.”