Bowling Green Ballpark to Host Sun Belt Conference Baseball Tournament

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE / Friday, Feb. 3, 2012

Baseball / Contact: Melissa Anderson, Assistant Director of Media Relations

WKU Set to Host Louisville and SBC Tournament at Bowling Green Ballpark

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - Western Kentucky University and the Bowling Green Hot Rods announced Friday that the Hilltoppers will host a regular-season game along with the Sun Belt Conference Baseball Tournament at Bowling Green Ballpark this season. The May 1 meeting between WKU and the University of Louisville along with the SBC Tournament, May 23-27, will be held at Bowling Green Ballpark in downtown Bowling Green. This will mark the third year WKU has played a regular-season game at Bowling Green Ballpark.

"It is an honor to play in such a great facility," WKU head coach Matt Myers said. "We've played tremendous games at the Bowling Green Ballpark. We've had great turnouts in our crowds and that has really fed into our team's energy and our performance. It is a beautiful ballpark and a great atmosphere for college baseball."

Over the last two seasons, more than 13,000 fans have watched WKU take on Louisville and Kentucky at Bowling Green Ballpark. The crowd of 5,142 to watch the Hilltoppers and the Wildcats last year was the largest to see a college baseball game in the state of Kentucky in 2011. WKU is 3-0 in games played at BGBP while scoring 50 runs on 53 hits, including 21 extra-base hits.

"We are thankful to continually deepen and grow our partnership with Western Kentucky University and look forward to hosting this great event for our community at Bowling Green Ballpark," Hot Rods President Brad Taylor said. "We hope to watch the Toppers celebrate a Sun Belt Conference Championship in downtown Bowling Green."

The Cardinals and Hilltoppers will play a home-and-home series this season, marking the 127th and 128th all-time meetings between the two teams. WKU leads the series 66-60 after splitting a pair of games in 2011.

WKU will also play host to the top eight teams in the Sun Belt Conference for six days beginning with Family Night on May 22 (free admission). All eight teams in the tournament are guaranteed to play three games with the Sun Belt's round robin tournament format.

"All the teams are going to love playing in that park," Myers said. "The potential of creating a regional-type atmosphere there and the way they have that field set up, will make for a first-class host facility for this tournament."

Game times are 11 a.m., 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. each day with the championship game scheduled for 1 p.m. on Sunday, May 27. As the host, WKU has the opportunity to select its preferred game time during pool play and will play in the 7 p.m. time slot.

Bowling Green Ballpark, home of the Bowling Green Hot Rods, a Class A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays, opened prior to the team's inaugural 2009 season. The facility drew more than 232,000 fans for Hot Rods games in its first season.

Tickets for the May 1 game against Louisville at Bowling Green Ballpark will be $5 for adults and $3 for youth and groups. Gates will open at 4:00 PM, and the first pitch is scheduled for 6:00 PM. The game at Bowling Green Ballpark is included in WKU's baseball season ticket package.

A booklet of 13 tickets for the Sun Belt Tournament can be purchased for $45 while a six-game flex pack is available for $30. Single game tournament tickets will be $15 for adults and $8 for youth.

All WKU baseball tickets can be purchased by calling the WKU ticket office at (270) 745-5222 or online at WKUSports.com starting February 6. ALL WKU students get in free to home games and the conference tournament.