KWU Sports Information
Kansas Wesleyan baseball's bats awakened in the fifth inning of the second game of Sunday's crucial Kansas Conference doubleheader at Dean Evans Stadium, but the Coyotes couldn't complete the rally, falling 8-5.
The loss came after the Coyotes won Sunday's opener 14-4 in eight innings, assuring Wesleyan the series win.
It was the final games of the 2023 season at Dean Evans for the Coyotes.
Ottawa broke out to a 5-0 lead in the first inning, and added single tallies in the third and fourth innings to take a 7-0 lead.
The Coyotes got on the board in the fourth inning as Zack Beatty (JR/Maple Park, Ill.) walked, Jarrett Gable (SR/Colleyville, Texas) singled and Kevin Esquilin-Cruz (SR/Trujilo Alto, Puerto Rico) drove in the run with a single up the middle scoring Beatty from second.
In the fifth, the Coyotes put two on as Diego Solis (SO/El Paso, Texas) singled and Kendall Foster (SR/Prosper, Texs) walked, setting up Haydn Brown (SR/Gardnerville, Nev.)'s homer to right center getting the Coyotes within striking distance. After a walk to Beatty, Gable was hit by a pitch and Esquilin-Cruz followed with a double to score the fourth run of the inning.
Ottawa got a run in the sixth, and the Coyotes looked to rally in the seventh.
Brown walked and Beatty flew out to left, hitting the cover off the ball, but the gusty wind blowing across the field knocked the ball down and kept it in play. Gable followed with a single, but a double play would end it.
The first game was all Coyotes early and often.
In the first inning, the Coyotes scored twice as Brown walked with the bases loaded scoring William Dryburgh (SR/St. Joseph, Mo.), and Beatty hit into a double play, but a run scored making it 2-0.
Ottawa got a run in the second, but the Coyotes answered right back putting up eight runs. Zach Olson (JR/Red Deer, Alberta) crushed a ball out to right field that nearly landed on Holmes Road beyond the fence at Evans Stadium, and Foster followed with a 2-run double. The Coyotes loaded the bases for Beatty, who quickly unloaded them. He popped a ball up to right, that got caught in the wind and carried over the fence for a grand slam putting KWU up 10-1.
Ottawa scored in the fourth and twice in the fifth, but the Coyotes got another one on the board when Foster homered to right.
The Coyotes ended it early in the bottom of the eighth as Foster homered again, a 2-run shot, and Gable ended it with a bases loaded single to right center.
Dryburgh and Foster each had three hits, while Foster drove in five and Beatty four.
Jarrett Brannen (JR/Bakersfield, Calif.) got the win for the Coyotes, improving to 11-0 on the season, allowing four runs on seven hits in five innings. Ritter Steinmann (SO/Oroville, Calif.) pitched two innings and KT Gearlds (SR/Ingram, Texas) tossed one.
Wesleyan's last seven regular season games will be on the road starting on Tuesday at York. KWU then goes to Avila this weekend and concludes the regular season at Saint Mary on April 28 and 29 in Leavenworth.