Senior shortstop Terrence Dayleg said before the season that the team hadn’t specifically talked about goals for the season, but he knew the Toppers were on the same page with their expectations for 2009.

“To do better than we did last year,” Dayleg said.

Leading off the fourth inning in Sunday’s 12-2 win over Arkansas Little-Rock, senior catcher C.J. Wamsley hit a single to right field, slipping on the muddy base path and flopping onto first base.

Though Wamsley’s single may have appeared less than impressive because of its awkward end, the senior class left no doubt that Western deserved its series sweep of the Trojans, outscoring them 30-11 on the weekend.

The second time has been the charm in Western’s mid-week games this season.

Western (31-12, 16-5 Sun Belt Conference) defeated Austin Peay 14-4 on Tuesday night, avenging a loss to the Governors on April 14.

The Toppers have five two-game mid-week series on their 2009 schedule and haven’t been swept in any of them.

NASHVILLE-The first of senior right fielder Chad Cregar’s home runs in Wednesday night’s 9-3 win at Lipscomb bounced out of the park off the yellow lining on top of the Dugan Field wall.

Cregar didn’t leave any doubt as to whether his second home run would count.

The hair may be gone, but the hits keep coming for sophomore catcher Matt Rice.

Though Rice’s school-record 31-game hitting streak ended after an 0-for-5 performance at Arkansas State on April 18, he has had a hit in each of the five games since then.

“Whenever it ended, not really much changed,” Rice said.

Western’s pitching staff has played its own version of musical chairs the past few weeks.

The Toppers (30-12, 16-5 Sun Belt Conference) won their 12th consecutive home series by taking two games from Florida Atlantic this weekend.

An RBI single from senior shortstop Terrence Dayleg gave Western a walk-off 4-3 win on Sunday.

The Toppers had rallied from a three-run deficit to take a two-run lead in the late innings last night to beat Eastern Kentucky 11-9, but coach Chris Finwood still wasn’t happy.

With runners on first and second in the top of the eighth inning, freshman Jared Andreoli hit a sharp single to Eastern freshman shortstop Richie Rodriguez and was called out at first by first base umpire Bryon Martin.

No, Arkansas State didn’t hide the home plate from the Toppers last weekend.

Friday night lights prepared senior pitcher Evan Teague to become a key member of Western’s bullpen.

With a month left in the season, the Toppers have produced ample evidence that they might live up to the hype.

Western was picked to finish first in the Sun Belt Conference for the first time in program history, and currently lead second-place Middle Tennessee by a game and a half.