Western proved that even with a much different roster, achieving the same results in the Sun Belt Conference as last season is possible.

The Toppers (12-4, 3-0 Sun Belt) completed a three-game sweep of New Orleans Sunday as they beat the Privateers, 13-7, in 10 innings. It is the first time Western has swept a team from the Sun Belt on the road since 2004.

Head Coach Chris Finwood said he was very proud of the work his team put in over the weekend.

“Anytime you win a series on the road it’s really special,” Finwood said.

Senior first baseman Jake Wells hit a homerun in the sixth inning to propel the Toppers. After New Orleans scored in the ninth inning to tie the game, Western went on to get seven hits and six runs in the 10th inning to put the game out of reach.

“We wanted to come out today and get the sweep,” sophomore center fielder Kes Carter said. “We never let up and came out on top.”

Western scored three runs in the ninth inning in Saturday’s contest to get the 7-6 victory. Carter hit a home run with two outs in the inning, and three consecutive hits brought home two more runners.

“The guys grinded it out,” Finwood said. “They played all 27 outs and never gave up.”

Friday’s contest was much easier than the games that followed. The Toppers scored a season-high 17 runs as they beat the Privateers 17-1. Senior pitcher Matt Ridings pitched 6.3 innings and struck out eight batters while tying the school record for pitching victories with 28.

“We really swung the bat and pitched well Friday,” Finwood said. “That was one of our most complete games of the year.”

Western has now beat New Orleans eight straight times by a combined score of 95-25.

“We come to play every time we play them,” Carter said. “It’s good we got the record going.”

The Toppers will be back in action on Tuesday when they travel to Nashville to face Vanderbilt.

An unsung hero provided late inning dramatics Tuesday night for the Toppers.

Freshman infielder Blake Crabtree drove home junior designated hitter Kori Petri in the bottom of the 10th inning to push the Toppers (9-3) past visiting Tennessee, 5-4.

“Everybody contributed and we all played great,” Crabtree said. “It just happened to be my time.”

Crabtree was put into the game in the top of the 10th as a defensive substitution, and he got the winning hit in just his second at-bat of the year.

“I’m just really happy for Blake,” Head Coach Chris Finwood said. “He hasn’t had a lot of opportunities yet, but he is a great team guy and he keeps working hard.”

Western went into the bottom of the ninth inning down 4-2, but a rally brought the game to extra innings. Sophomore center fielder Kes Carter had an RBI double and freshman left fielder Matt Borgschulte drew a bases-loaded walk to bring home the tying run. Finwood said he was confident in his club to get the win as they headed into extra innings.

“We had (sophomore pitcher Rye Davis) going and he is pretty tough, so you’ve got to feel pretty good,” Finwood said.

Davis, the seventh Western pitcher of the game, pitched a scoreless 10th inning to earn the win for the Toppers. There were a total of 14 pitchers for the game.

Freshman Taylor Haydel pitched five innings for the toppers and only gave up one earned run.

“The thing that gets lost in all of this is Hydell,” Finwood said. “He had a really quality start for us and that was very encouraging.”

Going into the ninth inning, the Toppers were having trouble manufacturing runs and hitting with two outs, unlike the Volunteers. All seven of Tennessee’s hits game with two outs, and they were able to get two unearned runs for the game

“It didn’t look great, but this is a good group and they kept battling and fighting,” Finwood said.

Carter led Western with three hits, two runs and an RBI for the game.

Western now heads down to Mississippi St. on Wednesday for another game against an Southeastern Conference opponent. Crabtree said the ride will be much easier for him and his teammates after their win.

It was a tale of two stories for the Toppers this weekend.

In the first 13.1 innings of a three-game series against Illinois-Chicago, Western scored 25 runs on 29 hits. But after the fourth inning of Saturday’s game and through Sunday’s game, the Toppers (8-3) generated just five runs on nine hits.

Senior pitcher Shane Cameron dug Western into a big hole on Sunday as he gave up seven runs in just two innings of work. The Toppers went on to lose the game 7-5.

“(Cameron) was pretty terrible, and he knows that,” Finwood said. “You can’t do what he did today and get your team behind like that.”

The Flames brought Michael Heesch to the mound, and the Illinois-Chicago starter threw 121 pitches in a complete game.

“He hit his spots and was too good for us today,” sophomore Kes Carter said. “We couldn’t get any hits off him.”

Western did not get on the board until the sixth inning. The Toppers went on to score in three straight innings, capped off by a two-run homerun by sophomore catcher Ryan Huck. Even though they could not make up the last two runs, Finwood said he was proud of the team’s resiliency.

“It looked like it could have gone ugly, but our bullpen allowed us to get back in the game,” Finwood said. ‘Our hitters battled and made it a ball game in the end.”

Western did not have any trouble scoring in the first two games of the series. Matt Payton led Western with three hits and five RBI in Saturday’s 11-5 win.

“Matt was solid for us,” Finwood said. “He’s been really strong for us at the plate lately.”

The Toppers won Friday’s contest 14-4 as they went for a season high 18 hits.

Freshman pitcher Tanner Perkins and Senior pitcher Matt Ridings each picked up their second wins of the season in the victories.

With their win on Saturday, the Toppers won the weekend series over Illinois-Chicago to make it 14 consecutive home series wins.

The Toppers are back at home at 3 p.m. Tuesday against Tennessee.

Freshman infielder Blake Crabtree joins his teammates outside the dugout after scoring to put Western ahead two runs in the sixth inning against Austin Peay on Monday, March 2, at Nick Denes Field. The Toppers went to win 14-7. CHRIS WILSON/HERALD

The Toppers are finally hitting the long ball, and it helped spark a key run on Tuesday.

Trailing 7-2 in the bottom of the third inning, sophomore shortstop Login Robbins hit a homerun and senior second baseman Matt Payton followed with a two-run homerun two batters later. Western (6-1) went on to score 12 straight runs, routing visiting Austin Peay, 14-7.

“Those homeruns gave us the confidence we needed at the plate,” Payton said. “We just started being patient after that, and it came to us.”

The Toppers scored one more run in the fifth inning and four additional runs in the sixth to take the lead for good.

“We knew if we could stop them then we would be able to score,” Head Coach Chris Finwood said.

Freshman Taylor Haydel made his first start after not allowing any hits in 5.1 innings of relief work for the year. Haydel gave up seven runs in just three innings of work, allowing at least two runs an inning.

“He was obviously a little shaky, but we have some good leaders and they were helping us stay into it in the dugout,” Finwood said.

Freshman Andrew Keltner entered the game in the fourth inning for his first appearance of the season and pitched three shutout innings to get the win for the Toppers.

“When he throws the ball in the zone, which he did today, he can be very effective,” Finwood said. “He led us big in that came so he is probably the star of the game.”

Keltner said he was a little nervous going into the game after what the Governors did to Haydel.

“I knew I had to trust myself out there,” Keltner said. “If I came out there and threw strikes, my defense would back me up.”

The bullpen held Austin Peay scoreless throughout the game’s last six innings and gave up only three hits.

“The bullpen has been outstanding all year,” Payton said. “When they start putting zeros on the board, the bats start to come alive too.”

Payton led the Toppers with three hits and two RBI.

The Toppers travel to Nashville tomorrow, taking on Belmont at 3 p.m.