HILLSBORO - Kansas Wesleyan Baseball picked up a pair of crucial Kansas Conference victories on Saturday as the Coyotes swept the Tabor Bluejays 11-8 and 17-9 at the Tabor College Baseball Field.
In the opener, the Coyotes jumped out to a 2-0 lead on Tyler Favretto's 2-run homer that followed Jacob Williamson getting hit by a pitch.
Tabor tied it up in the bottom of the second inning, before the Coyotes scored two runs in each of the third, fourth, fifth and sixth innings.
In the third Williamson led things off with a walk and three batters later Fernando Ruvalcaba doubled to bring in Williamson. Carter Allen then followed with a run-scoring hit to put KWU up 4-2.
Williamson hit a 2-run homer in the fourth after Chase Aurand had singled.
In the fifth, Garrett Garfield led off the inning with a homer and Ruvalcaba followed with a double. Allen reached on an error and a later passed ball allowed the second run to score.
Tabor got four runs on a grand slam in the bottom of the fifth.
Williamson singled and Favretto reached on an error to start the KWU sixth and later in the inning Allen singled to bring in a run and the second run of the inning came on a balk.
Aurand homered in the seventh for the Coyotes.
Tabor got two runs in the seventh but could not find a way to rally, leaving the tying run at the plate on a ground out to end the game.
Williams and Allen had three hits for the Coyotes. Brett Maddock got the win going six innings-plus, allowing eight runs on 11 hits. Riley Gwin went two thirds of an inning before Ritter Steinmann closed it out going two and a third allowing only two hits and had three strikeouts for the save.
The first 11 runs of the second game came via a home run by both teams.
Wesleyan put four on the board in the first as Williams reached on an error, Favretto walked and Ruvalcaba singled to load the bases for Carter Allen to unload them with a grand slam to make it 4-0.
Tabor had a 3-run homer in the bottom of the inning.
Williamson connected for a solo shot in the second, and in the third Allen homered again, this time a 2-run shot. Joe Finder immediately followed with a solo shot for the Coyotes.
Tabor scored the first non-homer run in the bottom of the third with a sacrifice fly.
Finder drove in two in the fourth with a bases loaded double that made it 10-4.
Tabor got four runs in the fourth, three of them on a homer, but the Bluejays could only put one more on the board the rest of the way.
The Coyotes hit three homers in the sixth as Ruvalcaba and Allen went back-to-back and Blake Dale hit one later in the inning.
Wesleyan added three more in the seventh. Williams led off with a double and scored on Favretto's single.
Allen stepped up later in the inning with a chance to complete the home run cycle needing just a 3-run homer for the feat, but the Coyotes only had one runner on base after Ruvalcaba had singled in a run. Allen would walk and the Coyotes got the final run of the frame on a wild pitch.
Allen drove in seven with three hits, all homers. Ruvalcaba and Dale had three hits each.
Nathan Galusha got the win going four and a third. Hunter Blead got the save, coming in when it was a 1-run ballgame and holding Tabor to one hit and four strikeouts in two and two thirds.