GOODWELL, Okla. – Kansas Wesleyan's bats sprung to life in both halves of Friday's doubleheader with Oklahoma Panhandle State at Aggie Field.
The Coyotes scored 17 runs in the opener and 13 in the nightcap for the sweep and picked up a 3-1 series win.
In the opener, Panhandle State jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning, but the Coyotes were quick to respond. Dalton Whitaker (SR/Edmond, Okla.) led off the KWU second with a single, followed by a double by Dalton Bishop (JR/Colorado Springs, Colo.).
Nicholas Erickson (JR/Las Vegas, Nev.) drove in the first run of the inning with a hit, and three batters later, Tyler Latham (JR/Wichita Falls, Texas) doubled to drive in two. Austin Cross (JR/Montgomery, Texas) followed with a 2-run double and Trey Lopez (SR/Burlington, Wash.) capped a 6-run inning for the Coyotes with a RBI single.
Wesleyan added another run in the third on a RBI single by Latham, and blew the game open with five runs in the fourth.
Haydn Brown (SR/Gardnerville, Nev.) was hit, then Lopez singled. Two batters later, Bishop doubled home two, Erickson had a RBI single and Josh Sandoval (SR/Glendale, Ariz.) crushed a 2-run homer making it 12-3 Coyotes.
OPSU got a run in the bottom of the fourth, but KWU wasn't done marking the board.
Two more in the sixth by the Coyotes on Jakeub Scheid (FR/Bradenton, Fla.)'s homer, and Cross's RBI double.
KWU added three more in the seventh on RBI singles by Tristan Devane (FR/Frostproof, Fla.) and Latham, and a RBI fielder's choice by William Dryburgh (SO/St. Joseph, Mo.).
Kaden Sitzman (SR/McCook, Neb.) picked up the win, going the distance, allowing four runs on seven hits with five strikeouts. Latham had four hits and drove in four, while Erickson had three hits and three other players had two hits each.
KWU added 13 more hits in the nightcap, using a huge 9-run fifth inning to pull away for the 13-5 win.
Wesleyan struck first in the top of the third with three runs as Cross had a RBI double, Brown had a RBI triple and Lopez a RBI double. OPSU got two runs back in the bottom of the inning.
The game was scoreless until the offense got going in the fifth for the Coyotes.
Cross led off the frame with a single, then scored along with Brown on Bishop's bases loaded 2-run double. Sandoval followed with a 2-run single, Latham drove in a run with a hit, Cross had a 2-run double, Brown had a RBI as well and the ninth run came on a wild pitch.
Whitaker homered in the sixth to cap the scoring for the Coyotes.
Cross had three hits and drove in three. Brown added three hits and drove in two for the Coyotes. Jansen Lublin (FR/San Diego, Calif.) went five innings allowing four runs on two hits with five strikeouts for the win. Oscar Sanchez (JR/Celina, Texas) went two innings allowing a run on five hits.
The early season road swing continues for the Coyotes next weekend as KWU heads to Springfield, Mo., for a four-game series on Friday and Saturday against Evangel. The much anticipated home opener at a newly renovated Dean Evans Stadium is set for Feb. 20 against Goshen (Ind.).
--kwucoyotes.com--