KWU Athletics
An extra-innings walk-off victory in the first game fueled Kansas Wesleyan's positive momentum in the second game as the Coyotes swept the Bethel Threshers on Senior Day Saturday at Salina South High School.
Wesleyan capped the day with an 8-0 win in five innings in the second game after winning the first 5-4 in nine innings.
The opener had a wild finish as the teams scored five of the nine combined runs in extra innings.
The Coyotes had a golden chance to take the game in the bottom of the seventh as Jocelyn Alcala (SO/Fullerton, Calif.) walked, followed by a walk to Lauren Blue (SR/Arlington, Texas). A passed ball moved Alcala to third, but the Coyotes could not find a way to push the run across forcing extras.
With the tiebreaker rule in effect, Bethel took advantage in the top of the eighth, moving the runner on second over on a bunt single ahead of a 2-run triple by Lauren Hurd that gave the Threshers a 4-2 lead. Bethel had a chance to extend the lead but a ground ball to third would result in an out at home to keep more runs off the board.
The Coyotes then had their turn in the eighth. Mia Hernandez (FR/Hanford, Calif.) started the inning getting hit by a pitch giving KWU the winning run at the plate. Samantha Herrera (FR/Lake Jackson, Texas) then singled to left field but a throwing error on the play allowed the first run to score, and a second run was brought in when the ball went into the Bethel dugout on the play.
Again with the walk-off run 60 feet away, the Coyotes could not get the runner home.
Bethel came up in the ninth and moved the tiebreaker runner to third on a sacrifice, but then a pop out to second and a strikeout ended the frame.
The Coyotes then got their chance. Carmen Angulo (SR/Long Beach, Calif.) was the tiebreaker runner on second to start the inning, and she moved to third on Alcala's sacrifice. Up stepped senior Lauren Blue. Blue skied one to deep left field but it drifted foul, and the Bethel left fielder caught it instead of letting it fall foul, and Angulo raced home for the walk-off run.
Wesleyan took a 1-0 lead in the game on Herrera's first inning sacrifice fly, and added another run in the fourth on a homer by Mia Hernandez, making it 2-0 Coyotes.
Bethel got on the board in the fifth, but a pair of nifty defensive plays for the Coyotes, including a throw by Blue in center field that got a runner at home trying to score held the Threshers to a single tally. The Threshers tied it in the sixth.
Paige Anderson (JR/Lakeville, Minn.) and Herrera had two hits each to pace the Coyote offense. Angulo was again stellar in the circle, going the distance, allowing four runs, three earned, on nine hits while striking out eight against one walk.
The second game was all Coyotes.
The Coyotes scored four runs in the bottom of the first thanks in part to back-to-back homers by Alcala and Hernandez, Alcala's a 2-run shot, Hernandez's for the KCAC lead at 10 homers, and the seventh straight game she has hit a homer.
Brianna McGinnis (SR/Tucson, Ariz.) scored the fourth run of the inning after doubling, then stealing third and scoring on a throwing error by the catcher.
Bailey Rivas (SO/West Covina, Calif.) and Destiny Hackney (FR/Thornton, Colo.) got hits to open the fourth for the Coyotes. Lauren Blue drove them in with a double, followed by Paige Anderson's RBI single that scored Blue.
Wesleyan ended it in the fifth. Herrera doubled, McGinnis singled and Rivas reached on an error to load the bases. Jenna Soule (FR/Overland Park, Kan.) then hit a blooper to second that was dropped by the second baseman allowing the game-ending run to score.
Anderson and McGinnis had two hits each for the Coyotes. Jewell Henry (SO/Kingston, Okla.) got the complete game shutout win, allowing only five Bethel hits with four strikeouts.
The next two series for the Coyotes are against the top two teams in the conference. KWU heads to No. 22 ranked Ottawa on Thursday, then plays the final home series of the season next Saturday against conference leading Oklahoma Wesleyan.
KWU finishes the regular season April 26 at Sterling.