BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — For the 100th season of WKU Baseball, head coach John Pawlowski and the Hilltoppers have announced the 2019 schedule.
“We are all proud and honored to part of the 100th season of WKU Baseball,” Pawlowski said. “The 2019 Hilltoppers look forward to a challenging and exciting season ahead of us. We hope to see everyone at ‘The Nick’ to help us make this a special 100th season.”
Overall, the schedule features five contests against Power Five opponents, including WKU’s annual game at Bowling Green Ballpark against Kentucky (April 23). The Hilltoppers also have road midweek matchups against the Wildcats (March 13), Vanderbilt (April 2) and Louisville (April 30).
An early-year highlight is the Cox Diamond Invitational from March 1-3 in Pensacola, Fla., which will see WKU face North Florida and Louisiana Monroe to begin the weekend, then Tennessee of the SEC to conclude the round-robin event.
The last time the Hilltoppers were a part of a neutral-site event was the 2016 Bulldog Invitational. From Feb. 26-28 in Athens, Ga., the Hilltoppers went 3-0 against Cincinnati, South Alabama and host Georgia to claim the tournament title.
Meanwhile, the Hilltoppers play six times against teams who qualified for NCAA Regionals last season, including a home midweek contest vs. Tennessee Tech (March 26) and a three-game series against Conference USA foe Florida Atlantic (April 19-21) at Nick Denes Field.
For the third straight year, WKU begins its league schedule with a home series, as UAB (March 15-17) comes to Bowling Green. But for the first time since 2015, the Hilltoppers conclude the regular season at home, as Old Dominion (May 16-18) appears on the schedule once again; the Hilltoppers and Monarchs last faced off in 2016.
Otherwise, the C-USA portion of the schedule is the same as 2017. WKU will host Charlotte (March 29-31) and Rice (May 3-5), while traveling to FIU (March 22-24), Middle Tennessee (April 5-7), Marshall (April 12-14), UTSA (April 26-28) and Louisiana Tech (May 10-12).
The Hilltoppers play a series against every league team except for Southern Miss, leading into the 2019 C-USA Championship from May 22-26 in Biloxi, Miss.
Prior to the 10-weekend C-USA schedule, WKU has home series against Northern Kentucky (Feb. 15-17), Eastern Illinois (Feb. 22-24) and Memphis (March 8-10).
Other midweek matchups for the Hilltoppers include home-and-home’s with regional rivals Belmont (April 9 [home], April 16 [away]) and Austin Peay (March 19 [home], May 14 [away]). In addition, WKU hosts Murray State (Feb. 26) and travels to Lipscomb (Feb. 19) and Eastern Kentucky (March 5) in midweek.
“Our players, coaches and support staff would like to thank all those who have made this possible with your pride, passion and commitment to this program over the years,” Pawlowski added.
The 2019 squad returns 15 letterwinners, including defending C-USA hitting champion, sophomore outfielder Luke Brown. Juniors Kevin Lambert and Ray Zuberer III are also back for the Hilltoppers, as well as senior pitchers Jacob Green, Troy Newell and Colby Taylor.
