Western Kentucky Hilltoppers

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Western Kentucky Hilltoppers

Spring Football

On the final play from scrimmage Saturday night, Bobby Rainey scored from a yard out on fourth-and-goal to lead the White team to a 23-21 victory over the Red in Western Kentucky University’s annual spring game at Houchens Industries-L.T. Smith Stadium.

The play capped a 16-play, 74-yard march for the White, which held the ball for the last 10-plus minutes of the contest.

“I don’t think we could have scripted it any better to come down to the last play,” Hilltopper head coach David Elson said. “Bobby stepped up and made a play to win the game.”

K.J. Black made two big plays early in the final possession to keep the White team alive, scrambling for 16 yards on the first third-down play of the drive before finding Jessie Quinn for a 27-yard gain on 3rd-and-18 from the from White-38. Black would end the night 17-of-29 passing for 159 yards while rushing for 57 more. Quinn led the squad with seven catches for 82 yards.

Rainey would carry the ball on seven of the final 10 snaps, posting 21 yards before running around right end on the final play for the winning score. He led the team with 78 yards on 17 carries.

Ahead by four with the ball at the beginning of the fourth quarter, the Red team was driving until Jon Belcher stopped Brandon C. Smith for a five-yard loss to create a third-and-long situation that wasn’t converted.

Each team scored on its first drive of the second half, beginning with Black’s nine-yard pass to Quinn that put the White up 17-14 with 10:19 remaining in the third period. Black found Derrius Brooks, who added three receptions for 40 yards, for a 20-yard gain to move the ball just outside the red zone, then Rainey rushed for 14 yards to put the White inside the 10-yard line.

The Red answered with a seven-play, 57-yard march, as Smith completed all three pass attempts for 34 yards and rushed for another seven to set up Tyrell Hayden’s one-yard touchdown run with just over four minutes left in the third period.

It was Hayden’s third score of the game, as he reached the end zone from two yards out on the opening drive and with a six-yard run 12-and-a-half minutes before halftime. He ended up with a team-high 37 yards on nine carries.

Smith completed 14-of-27 attempts for 178 yards, with Quinterrance Cooper leading all players with 111 yards on six receptions. Jake Gaebler and Ronnie Letcher both caught three passes as well.

The White outgained the Red, 322-294, though, with Black leading a pair of scoring drives in the second quarter. After Braxston Miller stopped Marell Booker for no gain on fourth-and-one, the White needed to go just 40 yards before Black’s seven-yard scoring run on the second play of the second quarter tied the score 7-7. Zac Minturn added a 35-yard field goal midway through the period after a 14-play possession.

Miller and Brad Cloud each recorded seven stops to pace the White squad, with Jon Belcher adding five solo tackles including two for loss. Chris Bullard was credited with six tackles and two passes broken up, while Orlando Misaalefua added five.

The Red’s Ryan Beard led all players with eight stops, and Rashad Etheridge, Marcus Minor and Travis Watters both collected six tackles. Watters’ second-quarter interception provided the only turnover committed by either offensive unit. Darvis McBride and Tim Nelson both added five stops, with the former credited with two behind the line of scrimmage.

“I thought it was a great game. It was good for our fans and everybody who came out,” said Elson. “When we held the draft, I thought our guys did a really good job of selecting teams that were going to be evenly matched, and that’s how it turned out. There was great competition and intensity tonight.”

The Hilltoppers will officially open the 2008 campaign with an Aug. 30 contest at Indiana.

Baseball

The Western Kentucky University baseball team scored multiple runs in three innings, and pounded out a season-high 21 hits to complete a three-game weekend sweep over Arkansas State with a 13-5 win Sunday afternoon in the series finale at Nick Denes Field.

The win moved the Hilltoppers to 23-16 overall and 10-8 in the Sun Belt Conference. ASU dropped to 16-24 and 5-13 in the league.

Just after ASU tied the game at 3-3 in the sixth inning, WKU came right back with back-to-back five-run innings in the sixth and seventh innings. The Toppers sent nine men to the plate and scored five times to pull away in the sixth. After a leadoff double by J.B. Paxson, a one-out single by Jake Wells drove him in to again move WKU in front. That was the first of four consecutive hits for the Hilltoppers, with Scott Kaskie and Matt Hightower each having singles to drive in runs. After a fielder’s choice groundout by Terrence Dayleg plated Kaskie, Chad Cregar tripled to bring home Dayleg and give WKU an 8-3 lead.

After a solo home run by Ryan Hudgins and an RBI single by Lawson Hipps in the top of the seventh pulled ASU back within two, the Toppers came back with another five-run inning to put the game away. All of WKU’s damage came with two outs as Wells got things started with a two-out double, and scored on a Matt Payton single. After stealing second and moving to third on a wild pitch, Payton scored on a Kaskie single to make it a 10-5 game. Hightower then doubled home Kaskie, and Dayleg hit a two-run home run to right to give the Toppers an eight-run lead and finish off the scoring.

ASU took its first lead of the weekend right away in the first inning as it loaded the bases with nobody out against Hilltopper starter Colby Beach. After a strikeout for the first out of the game, a fielder’s choice by Hipps brought home Derrick Coleman with the game’s first run. Beach was then able to get Murray Watts to ground out to limit the damage.

WKU came back with three runs in the second inning as it too loaded the bases with nobody out. Indian starter Jett Jones then got Kaskie to ground into a double play, but Jeremy Coleman scored on the play to get the Hilltoppers on the board. Hightower followed with a fly ball to center that hit off the wall and bounced back toward the infield, allowing him to come all the way around for a two-run inside-the-park home run that gave WKU a 3-1 lead.

Arkansas State got a run in the fifth on a Brandon Eller single, then tied things up at 3-3 on a Cade Baxter sacrifice fly in the sixth before the Toppers exploded for 10 runs in two innings.

Offensively, Hightower equalled a career high with four hits, and also drove in four. Kaskie, Cregar, Wells and Payton each had three hits, with Dayleg driving in three. Coleman finished with three of Arkansas State’s nine hits.

Beach (2-1) picked up the win as he allowed two earned runs on five hits and struck out five in six innings. Jones (1-7) gave up 12 hits and six runs as he suffered the loss for ASU.

WKU wraps up its six-game homestand on Wednesday when it hosts Kentucky at 6 p.m. (CDT) at Nick Denes Field.

Football

Western Kentucky University will face four opponents from Bowl Championship Series conferences and 10 overall from the NCAA Division I-A (Football Bowl Subdivision) level as part of its 2008 football schedule, which was released Wednesday.

In addition to a previously announced contest against instate foe Kentucky (Sept. 27), the Hilltoppers will open the season at Indiana (Aug. 30) while also visiting Alabama (Sept. 13) and Virginia Tech (Oct. 4). Those are four of WKU’s seven road games scheduled for the fall.

The slate will also feature five match-ups against Sun Belt Conference schools one season prior to the Toppers’ gaining eligibility to compete for the league championship and a bowl berth after completing a two-year transition to the FBS/I-A level.

“I really like our 2008 schedule and how it helps position us competitively for the future as well as the immediate national visibility it will provide,” said WKU Director of Athletics Dr. Wood Selig. “The 2008 season will be somewhat unique for WKU in that we are a I-A counter in our second and final year of transition. However, we operate as an independent with all games being non-conference match-ups — but, as such we will have no opportunity for a league championship or a bowl game. Thus, we have designed a schedule in 2008 that will be attractive to our student-athletes and fans with quality home games and several bowl type road games.

“We will face 10 I-A opponents and two former I-AA rivals in what could arguably be considered the most daunting football schedule in the history of the program. We were able to do some creative scheduling in 2008 that we may never have the capacity or opportunity to replicate in the future.

“We are certainly seeing an immediate pay off in our move to I-A given the quality and diversity of our 2008 schedule.”

“We are excited about how this 2008 schedule has turned out, the positives that it brings to our program are almost countless. Our program took a lot of pride in ‘Making History’ in 2007 during our first transitional year and this schedule provides us with a tremendous opportunity to ‘Make More History’ in 2008,” Hilltopper head coach David Elson added. “I would like to thank Dr. Selig for his time and effort in putting this schedule together, we have invested a tremendous amount of time working through countless scenarios to where our program will benefit both in the short term and long term from the positive ramifications of this schedule.

“We believe that with great challenge comes great opportunity.”

Six of the 12 teams on the 2008 schedule participated in a bowl game last season, with another advancing to the NCAA Division I-AA (Football Championship Subdivision) playoffs. Three of those schools won their conference title, while eight of next fall’s opponents posted a winning record (Middle Tennessee was able to accomplish the feat in league action).

The Hilltoppers will begin the year with a three-game road trip, as they are slated to take on Eastern Kentucky (Sept. 6) in the last of a six-game contract in between the contests at IU and Alabama. WKU will play host to Murray State Sept. 20 in the first-ever contest at a renovated Houchens Industries-L.T. Smith Stadium.

After visiting the Wildcats and Hokies, the Toppers begin a season-long three-game homestand with an Oct. 11 game against Ball State. Florida Atlantic will visit Houchens Industries-Smith Stadium on Oct. 18, and after a week off they will play host to North Texas on Homecoming Weekend (Nov. 1).

WKU will travel to Troy on Nov. 8, then close out the home schedule with a Nov. 15 date against rival Middle Tennessee.

Last year, the Hilltoppers won one of three games against Sun Belt schools after defeating the Blue Raiders on the road 20-17, with the other two contests against Troy and North Texas decided by four points or less.

After two open weekends, WKU will conclude the season at Florida International Dec. 6. It will be the third time in the last five years that it will wrap up the regular season with a game against the Golden Panthers in Miami.

“There is no question that this is the most exciting home schedule in the history of our program, especially as we open up a newly renovated Houchens Industries-L.T. Smith Stadium. At the same time, it is a great road schedule geographically for our fans and families,” stated Elson. “The exposure both in the Commonwealth and nationally that this schedule provides our program is priceless and something we are looking forward to.”

WKU was 7-5 in its first year transitioning to the NCAA I-A/FBS level, the school’s 12th consecutive winning season overall.

“Based on our success and experience from the 2007 season, along with knowing the type of coaching staff and players that we have in our program, I am confident we will be able to continue our winning tradition with this, the most challenging schedule in the history of WKU Football,” Elson said.

Upon the completion of the renovations to Houchens Industries-Smith Stadium in the late spring, the Hilltopper Athletic Foundation will begin a re-seating process for all WKU football season ticket holders. Approximately 5,000 new seats that will be available on the newly constructed West side of the stadium. WKU fans will have the opportunity to select their game day location in advance of the Toppers become a full-fledged FBS/I-A member in 2009.

“This will allow football fans a rare chance to literally select their seat location from every seat in the stadium, and gain control of that location for their future enjoyment,” Selig added. “You would almost have to start a program from scratch to have such an opportunity. This is a great time to get on board now and control your seat location for the future.”