Kansas Wesleyan Baseball outlasted the Concordia Bulldogs in a 12-inning thriller, then nearly knocked off the Johnson University Royals as a wild ninth inning comeback came up just short on the final day of the NAIA Baseball National Championship Opening Round Salina Bracket at Dean Evans Stadium.
The Coyotes would achieve a new high water mark for wins in program history with 50 after the win over Concordia, marking the first time in program history the Coyotes have won 50 games in a single season.
Johnson would come away as the winner of the Salina Bracket and will advance to the NAIA World Series in Lewiston, Idaho.
Wesleyan trailed the Royals 9-1 heading into the seventh inning of the game when the Coyotes started their comeback.
Niko Olson started the seventh inning rally with a double, followed by a hit by Carter Allen. Garrett Garfield brought in the run with a sacrifice fly that made it 9-2.
In the eighth the Coyotes got another run. Blake Dale singled and then scored on Tyler Nordyke's double down the line in right to make it 9-3.
After getting out of trouble in the bottom of the eighth, the Coyotes started their rally in the top of the ninth inning. With the top of the lineup due up, the Coyotes got singles by Olson and Allen and a four-pitch walk to Garfield to load the bases.
Fernando Ruvalcaba, the hero of the Concordia win, then stepped up and singled to center to bring in the first two runs on the inning. After a Johnson pitching change, the Coyotes got an RBI double by Chris Finocchario to make it 9-6, still without an out. Blake Dale followed with a sacrifice fly to bring in a run and Joe Finder doubled to draw the Coyotes within a run at 9-8.
However, the Coyote rally would fall short there as KWU could not push another run across.
Johnson took a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first when Mitchell Birdsall hit a 3-run homer to put the Royals on top.
In the second, the Royals added to their lead as they loaded the bases and Travis Hobbensiefken unloaded them with a grand slam to make it 7-0 in favor of the Royals.
The Coyotes got on the board in the fifth as Jackson Harriger led off the inning with a single and courtesy runner Isaac Hawthrone would later score on Allen's sacrifice fly to make it 7-1.
Johnson added two runs in the sixth to take a 9-1 lead.
Allen and Ruvalcaba had three hits each for the Coyotes. Davin Hinote would take the loss on the mound allowing three runs on three hits in two-thirds of an inning to start the game.
The Coyotes reached the championship game with a thrilling 5-4 12-inning win over Concordia in an elimination game.
Wesleyan had to rally from a 4-3 deficit in the ninth to tie it and Ruvalcaba's homer in the 12th would send the Coyotes to victory.
The Coyotes also got another incredible performance on the mound by Riley Gwin, who less than 48 hours prior pitched five and a third innings and threw 91 pitches in KWU's other win over Concordia, again returned to the mound and this time went eight innings, throwing another 96 pitches and leading the Coyotes to victory in the process.
Wesleyan took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning against Concordia on a RBI double by Ruvalcaba that scored Allen who had walked earlier in the inning.
Concordia took the lead in the third with two runs as Layton Rivas and Bronx Lewis led off the inning with walks and then a Jaeden Jordahl single and a Jake Watson sacrifice fly brought in the runs to put the Bulldogs in front.
The Coyotes answered right back un the fourth retaking the lead. Dale reached on an error and ended up at third and then scored on Zac Goldenberg's single. Later in the inning Olson brought in a run on a groundout and the Coyotes led 3-2.
Concordia tied it in the bottom of the sixth with a homer by Jake Tyler, and took the lead in the seventh on a Lewis homer to start the inning.
Three walks in the ninth loaded the bases for the Coyotes and Finocchario brought in the tying run on a sacrifice fly.
Concordia had a chance to win it in the ninth as Rivas doubled and Lewis was intentionally walked but fly outs by Luke Wilson and Jordahl would end the inning and force extras.
The Bulldogs again nearly won it in the 10th but Carson Burnett's fly ball to center would be caught on the warning track by Finocchario to end the inning.
In the 12th, Ruvalcaba led off the inning with a solo homer which ended up being the game-winning run for the Coyotes.
Ruvalcaba and Dale had two hits each for the Coyotes.