BOWLING GREEN – Junior Eli Burwash emerged as the hero for Western Kentucky on Tuesday, propelling WKU to a thrilling 3-2 extra-inning victory over the Louisville Cardinals. With the win, The Hilltoppers improve to 22-11 while the Cardinals drop to 20-12.
The bottom of the tenth inning was defined by two tense and lengthy reviews. In the first review, junior Blake Cavill’s bunt down the third base line initially called him safe. After a 10-minute wait, the ruling stood. Following this, junior Zayd Brannigan attempted a similar bunt but was out at first, leaving the Hilltoppers with one final chance. With two outs and two strikes, junior Eli Burwash hit a base-hit up the middle, allowing Cavill to round third and score. However, the umpires questioned whether Cavill was tagged at home, prompting another review. After much tension, the call was confirmed, securing the Hilltoppers’ victory over Louisville, their first since 2015.
“We put together a good game against a good ball club,” said Burwash. “I just happened to come up in that moment and it’s just one you can’t forget. Props to the team for staying in it and everybody that just contributed they allowed me to get that chance.”
The Hilltopper bullpen allowed only two runs on two solo home runs and delivered eight shutout innings. Senior Cory Bosecker, WKU’s starter, contained the Louisville offense early on with two strikeouts in 2.0 scoreless innings. Graduate student Coby Moe, senior Lane Diuguid, and juniors Grant Burleson and Cal Higgins provided relief without conceding a run and collectively striking out four batters. Senior Mason Burns secured the win in relief, pitching 2.1 innings of shutout baseball and striking out four Cardinals.
“I threw all my dudes,” said head coach Marc Rardin. “I was just trying to keep them short on pitch counts, so they are ready to go on Friday. I threw a lot of these guys threw an inning each on Sunday, but the pitch count was really low. They were able to go out there tonight and they did outstanding. What I wanted to do was exactly what happened.”
On offense, Cavill and senior Jaylin Rae both had multiple hits. Cavill went 3-for-5 with an RBI and a run scored, while Rae recorded two hits. Junior Brady Browning contributed a double and an RBI, while Burwash added an RBI with one hit.
