BRANSON, Mo. - Kansas Wesleyan Softball got two wins on the first day of the Branson Bash tournament at the Branson RecPlex on Friday.
The Coyotes got a 5-4 win over Briar Cliff and then defeated Culver-Stockton 13-5 in six innings.
Against Briar Cliff, the Coyotes broke a 2-2 tie with three runs in the top of the fifth inning then held off late charges by the Chargers to come away with the win.
Wesleyan took an early 1-0 lead as Keira Hammen homered to start the second inning.
In the second, the Coyotes got another run as Elli Han singled and then scored on Brooklyn Lange's double to make it 2-0.
Briar Cliff tied it in the bottom of the third with a pair of runs and the scored stayed there until the fifth.
Kendell Wilcox started the Coyote rally with a single, Hammen walked, MacKenzie Vela brought in the first run on a single and Madison Geer connected on a 2-run double to put the Coyotes up 5-2.
BCU got two runs in the bottom of the inning to get within a run at 5-4.
Wesleyan's defense stepped up big in the sixth and seventh innings to preserve the win.
In the sixth, Briar Cliff had a runner at third base with one out, but a pair of pop outs would end the inning without a run scoring.
In the seventh, BCU started inning off with a triple, but would strand the runner at third on a ground out and two more pop outs.
Hammen had two of KWU's eight hits and also drew two walks. Alli Mickelsen got the win for the Coyotes in the circle, allowing four runs on nine hits with four strikeouts and did not issue a walk.
A seven-run explosion by the Coyotes in the third inning fueled KWU's 13-5 run-rule win over Culver-Stockton.
Culver took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning, but the Coyotes tied things up as Lange led off the inning with a triple and then scored on a hit by Wilcox.
In the second, Culver grabbed the lead again scoring twice, but the Coyotes would blow the game open in the third.
KWU started the inning with four straight hits by Lange, Wilcox, Geer and Hammen to draw even with the Wildcats. A wild pitch would push across the go-ahead run for the Coyotes. Cadence Mallet drove in a run with a hit, Brooklynn Smith drove in two with a single and Lange doubled home a run in her second at bat of the inning to make it 8-3.
The Coyotes pushed the game into run-rule territory in the fourth as Geer led off with a single and Mallet later doubled to bring in a run and Grace Pierce doubled home two more to make it 11-3.
Culver scored twice in the top of the fifth to extend the game, but the Coyotes ended it in the bottom of the sixth.
Pierce and Becca Kennon walked and after a ground out, Lange singled to bring in two runs and close out the game.
Lange had an impressive game going 4 of 5 with three RBI. Five other players had two hits each and three others drove in two runs each.
Addie Herrera got the win allowing five runs on 10 hits with three strikeouts and did not issue a walk.