Along with everyone else in attendance at Dean Evans Stadium, Kansas Wesleyan baseball coach Bill Neale didn't initially think Reece Bishop (SO/Colorado Springs, Colo.)'s long fly ball to down the right field line was high enough to clear the fence.
"I was actually yelling at Dustin Sipe (JR/Aztec, N.M.) at second base because he was going back to tag and I knew the (right fielder) wasn't going to catch it," said Neale, who was standing in the third base coaching box. "I thought it was going to hit the fence for sure and I wanted to make sure (Sipe) scored. Off the bat I didn't think it had the height to (go over)."
Neale and everyone else watching were wrong. The ball did indeed clear the fence giving Bishop a home run but it wasn't any ordinary blast. It was preceded by three consecutive hit batters and resulted in a tiebreaking grand slam that propelled the Coyotes to a 9-5 come-from-behind non-conference victory over Southwestern Christian Sunday afternoon at Dean Evans Stadium.
The Eagles, who received votes in the NAIA's preseason coaches' poll, won the second game 8-1.
Bishop's big fly in the bottom of the eighth broke a 5-5 tie in dramatic fashion and was preceded by the three consecutive hit batsmen by relief pitcher Jacob Doshier, who then gave up Bishop's homer.
"When we were out in Arizona, he hit a couple of big ones for us too," Neale said of Bishop, the Coyotes' third baseman. "I had a good feeling (about the hit). He has a good right-center approach and the wind was kind of pushing balls that way. He got a ball elevated and got it just high enough to get over the fence."
The Coyotes trailed 4-1 entering the bottom of the fifth inning but scored four on run-scoring singles by Haydn Brown (SR/Gardnerville, Nev.) and Tyler Triano (JR/Hollister, Calif.) and Sipe's two-run single.
Southwestern Christian tied it 5-5 with a run in the top of the seventh, setting the stage for Bishop's heroics.
KT Gearlds (JR/Ingram, Texas), the third of four KWU pitchers in the game, got the victory by pitching a perfect eighth inning. Spencer Foley (JR/Lancaster, Calif.) worked a 1-2-3 ninth inning.
Trent Dewyer (JR/Albuquerque, N.M.) started for Wesleyan and allowed four runs (two earned) on four hits in five innings, striking out eight and walking three. Ethan Wilson (SR/Thackerville, Okla.) pitched the next two innings allowing two hits and an unearned run.
"Our bullpen's been great all year," Neale said. "Dewyer did a good job, he battled. He had some long at-bats with some guys that pushed his pitch count. We've been able to pull starters earlier just because of the depth of our bullpen and what they've been able to do."
Wesleyan had seven hits, Brown and Garrett Gable with two apiece. Gable's first hit was a homer to center in the fourth inning that accounted for KWU's first run. He also scored twice.
The Coyotes, though, managed just three hits in the second game against Southwestern Christian starter Nick Smith and reliever Jesus Valoy. Smith gave up one hit and no runs with seven strikeouts and a walk in the first four innings. Valoy surrendered one run on three hits in the final three innings.
Diego Fisher (JR/Hollister, Calif.)'s pinch-hit RBI double in the seventh inning accounted for the Coyotes' lone run. The other hits were Kevin Esquilin-Cruz (JR/Trujilo Alto, Puerto Rico)'s infield single in the first and Will Dryburgh's single in the fifth.
"(Smith) had velocity, I think he was up to 92, 93 (miles per hour) on us," Neale said. "He's a top arm, it's an arm we're going to see from Ottawa or from Oklahoma Wesleyan and we're going to have to find a way to do a little bit more than what we did against him. He's not a guy that we're probably going to hang a big number (of runs) on but we've got to be able to score at least little bit."
KWU starter Jansen Lublin (JR/San Diego, Calif.) took the loss, giving up four runs (three earned) on six hits with six strikeouts and a walk in 2.2 innings. Cesar Rodriguez (SO/Houston, Texas), Cayden Diccion (JR/Piedmont, Calif.) and Noah Schneider (SO/Topeka, Kan.) followed Lublin on the mound.
The Coyotes (3-4) play Evangel in a noon doubleheader Monday at Evans Stadium. Sunday's and Monday's game were the first four of a 21-game homestand that continues through March 5.