Kansas Wesleyan's walk-off 3-2 win over Sterling in the second game of Tuesday's Kansas Conference opening doubleheader gave the Coyotes a sweep of the Warriors at Salina South High School.
Trailing 2-1 heading to the bottom of the seventh, the Coyotes needed a spark to get things going, especially after leaving the tying run at third base the previous half inning.
Pinch hitter Hailey Summers started the rally with a walk to lead off the seventh, and pinch runner Josie Buhr moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Elli Han. Brooklyn Lange then singled to center and Buhr would score on the play to tie the game. Cadence Mallet then reached on an error and with runners at the corners and just one out, up stepped Trenity Miller. Miller would ground one to the right side, and Lange would score the game-winning run without a play at the plate.
The second game was scoreless until the fourth inning when Sterling scored twice taking advantage of a KWU error in the inning to take a 2-0 lead. In the bottom of the inning, Miller homered to right to get the Coyotes on the board. KWU had a chance to add another run as Jenna Soule and Briannah Kutschkau followed with singles, but the Coyotes could not push another run across.
Wesleyan pitcher Bella Allen would get a strikeout looking to end the seventh inning as Sterling had a runner at third base in the inning.
Kutschkau had two of KWU's six hits in the game. Miller drove in two runs. Allen got the win in relief, pitching two innings allowing just one hit with one strikeout. Starter Alli Mickelsen went five innings allowing two runs, one earned on six hits with four strikeouts.
The Coyotes started the day off with a 5-2 win in the first game.
After Sterling had scored in the first to take an early lead, the Coyote offense came alive in the third. Miller started off the inning with a walk and moved to third on Soule's double. Kutschkau singled to load the bases. After a fielder's choice, the Coyotes got on the board when Krista Yackeyonny reached on an error that allowed Soule and Kutschkau to score. Shiloh Johnson drove in the third run of the inning for the Coyotes on a fielder's choice.
Sterling got a run back in the fifth, but in the bottom half of the inning, the Coyotes added two more. Lange led off the inning with a double and Miller followed with a single. A wild pitch allowed the first run of the inning to score, and Miller would score the second run of the frame on an error on a fielder's choice by Soule.
Miller and Kutschkau had two hits each for the Coyotes. Caitlyn Collier went the distance for the Coyotes picking up her fourth straight win of the season to improve to 6-3. She scattered seven hits and two runs in the game with a strikeout.