Bowling Green, Kentucky (WBKO) WKU Baseball’s season came to an end with a 7-5 loss to second-seeded Dallas Baptist in the Conference USA Championship Semifinals on Saturday afternoon.
The Hilltoppers scored first with an RBI single from junior Blake Cavill in the first game, but the Patriots rallied with two runs in the second to grab the lead. Junior Ethan Lizama put the Tops back up with a two-run homer in the fourth, but Dallas Baptist retook the lead by scoring four unanswered runs over the next three frames. WKU outscored the Patriots 2-1 in the final three innings on Cavill’s solo bomb and Lizama’s second long ball of the day, but it was all they could muster.
WKU offensive
After being voted sixth in the Conference USA preseason poll, head coach Marc Rardin’s Hilltoppers finished third in the league standings at the end of the 2024 season, their best performance since joining CUSA in 2015. WKU won 36 games, the ninth-most in program history and the most since the 2009 season. Since taking over in 2023, Rardin has led the Tops to consecutive 30-plus victory seasons for the first time since 2010-11.
WKU won six series over CUSA opponents, including five straight over Jax State, No. 8 Dallas Baptist, Sam Houston, Liberty, and Middle Tennessee. The Hilltoppers completed the regular season with a series victory over New Mexico State.
For the second straight
