Sanford belts 21st homer of the season for Western Kentucky

Former Dartmouth Arrow Jake Sanford (Dartmouth, N.S.) belted his 21st home run of the season for the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers in the first game of a doubleheader on Sunday. Photo: WKU Athletics (file photo)

May 12, 2019

By Bryan Fyalkowski

WKU Athletics

SANFORD, ELIAS HOMER IN DOUBLEHEADER LOSSES IN RUSTON

RUSTON, La. — WKU Baseball suffered its first doubleheader sweep of the season, as Louisiana Tech defeated the Hilltoppers by scores of 6-1 and 8-3 in a pair of seven-inning games. In four twin bills prior to Sunday, WKU had swept three and split one, but the Hilltoppers had no such luck at Ruston High School.

The Bulldogs led wire-to-wire in both games, dropping WKU to 15-11-1 in Conference USA play, while LA Tech improved to 15-12. The Hilltoppers — who officially clinched a berth in the 2019 C-USA Tournament on Saturday — still stand in third in the league, and can finish anywhere from third to sixth in the final standings.

Game 1

Bulldog starter David Leal threw a complete game on 94 pitches, striking out eight and allowing only one run on three hits.

Two of those hits came off the bat of junior Jake Sanford, who rolled a single into right field in the top of the first and cracked a solo homerun in the fourth. It was the 21st dinger of the season for the Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, native, who moved into a four-way tie with Mike Williams (1981), Mike Roy (1985) and Chad Cregar (2008) for fifth on WKU’s all-time single-season charts.

In addition, with 64 runs batted in for the year, Sanford moved into 10th on the single-season program ranks. He trails Matt Rice for ninth place, as the catcher had 65 in 2010.

Hilltopper starter Joe Filosa went a season-high 5 1/3 innings, allowing five runs — four earned — while striking out four. The graduate senior righty kept it a 3-1 game through five frames, but LA Tech added three in the bottom of the sixth to push the lead to 6-1.

First baseman Matt Phipps added the other base knock, a single through the left side in the top of the seventh, but he was stranded on second base as Leal got the 21st and final out of the first contest of the day to secure a five-run win for the hosts.

Game 2

After a scoreless first inning traded off by starters Logan Bailey and Collin Lollar, the Bulldogs struck first in the bottom of the second. A leadoff homerun by Parker Bates and a two-run double by Mason Robinson pushed LA Tech to an early, 3-0 advantage.

WKU came back with a run in the next frame, as third baseman Nick Brunson led off with a single and eventually scored on an RBI ground out by second baseman Ray Zuberer III. After the hosts answered with one run in that same inning, the score stayed 4-1 until the top of the fifth.

Left fielder Aidan Elias skied a 3-1 offering from Bailey deep over the left-field fence for a solo home run, the first of his collegiate career. The long ball continued the incredible comeback story of the Lexington native, who has recovered from shattering both of his kneecaps in October of 2017 to become a utility outfielder for the Hilltoppers this season.

Now trailing only 4-2, WKU was unable to hold the score there. The Bulldogs got a pair of two-run homeruns in the bottom of the fifth from Manny Garcia and Philip Matulia to take their biggest lead of the day at 8-2.

Freshman center fielder Jackson Swiney drove in designated hitter Jack Wilson in the sixth, but that would represent the final tally from the visitors in an 8-3 defeat. In that same frame, Sanford grounded an opposite-field single through the six-hole to extend his on-base streak to 34 consecutive games.

Up Next

The Hilltoppers travel to Clarksville, Tenn., on Tuesday, May 14 to take on Austin Peay for a 6 p.m. start time at Raymond C. Hand Park. Earlier this season on March 19, the Governors defeated WKU by a score of 5-3 at Nick Denes Field.