GOODWELL, Okla. - Finally, Kansas Wesleyan Softball got to play some games. The Coyotes split two games on Saturday against Oklahoma Panhandle State and Missouri Valley.
KWU dropped the first game to OPSU 8-3, and then followed with a 9-5 win over Missouri Valley.
Against Panhandle State, the Coyotes were on the board first in the third inning when Briannah Kutschkau reach on an error and later scored on Brooklyn Lange's single.
OPSU tied it in the bottom of the inning, but in the fourth the Coyotes grabbed the lead again. Cadence Mallet singled then scored on Deja Rubio's single.
The Aggies scored twice in the bottom of the fourth to take the lead 3-2 and extended the difference in the fifth with three more runs. OPSU added two more in the sixth before the Coyotes got one back in the seventh.
Kutschkau reached on an error, then scored on Mallet's single. The Coyotes had two runners in scoring position looking to extend the rally but a double play would end it.
Lange and Mallet had three hits each for the Coyotes. Caitlyn Collier went five innings, allowing six runs, only two earned, on nine hits with three strikeouts.
In the win over Missouri Valley, the Coyotes jumped out to an early 4-0 lead in the first as Elli Han singled, Lange doubled and Mallet drove in two more with a single. Rubio singled to score Mallet and Grace Pierce reached on an error to bring in the fourth run of the inning.
KWU added another in the second on Elli Han's ground out that scored Kutschkau who singled earlier in the inning.
The Coyotes added two more in the third as Trenity Miller walked and Pierce singled setting up Jenna Soule's 2-run single to make it 7-0.
The Vikings scored five runs in the bottom of the third inning to get within two, and the score was stuck there until the seventh, when Lange walked, Mallet doubled and Miller brought home two runs with a hit.
Mallet added three more hits for the Coyotes. Bella Allen got the win in the circle pitching four and a third innings of relief holding the Vikings off the scoreboard and only three hits. Starter Haven Byerly went two and a third allowing five runs on three hits with five walks and four strikeouts.