KWU Athletics
Dustin Sipe (JR/Aztec, N.M.) hit a grand slam as part of a 7-run second inning in the second game of Kansas Wesleyan's doubleheader with Oklahoma Panhandle State on Saturday to help the Coyotes salvage a split with the Aggies at Dean Evans Stadium.
The doubleheader opened Wesleyan's final non-conference series of the season as OPSU won the first game 6-1 and the Coyotes took the second 9-3.
Wesleyan trailed 3-1 after an inning of the nightcap, as OPSU plated three in unconventional fashion. KWU was down 1-0 when it appeared that Lane Field had hit a 3-run home run for the Aggies, but Field missed third base and the Coyotes would record an out on appeal.
Will Dryburgh homered to lead off the home half of the first to get the Coyotes on the board.
After Diego Fisher (JR/Hollister, Calif.) walked and went to third on Reece Bishop (SO/Colorado Springs, Colo.)'s single, the Coyotes took advantage of a pair of OPSU errors to spark the big inning. Brock Downing (SR/Arvada, Colo.) reached on an error in right field that allowed Fisher to score and later in the inning, Kevin Esquilin Cruz (JR/Trujilo Alto, Puerto Rico) reached on an error that allowed Bishop to score.
Haydn Brown (SR/Gardnerville, Nev.) had a RBI single to bring home Dryburgh and Robbie Keener (FR/Abilene, Kan.) walked to load the bases setting up Sipe's grand slam to center that made it 8-3 in favor of the Coyotes.
Esquilin Cruz would add one more run for the Coyotes in the bottom of the sixth. He led off the inning with a single and went to second on a wild pitch. Esquilin Cruz then showed off his speed on the base paths when he scored from second when Keener grounded out.
Errors would plague the Coyotes in the opener as OPSU won 6-1.
A pair of Coyote errors in the sixth inning allowed Panhandle State to take a 4-0 lead in a pitcher-dominated game to that point.
The Aggies took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning of the opener with a home run, but Wesleyan starter Trent Dewyer (JR/Albuquerque, N.M.) was solid on the hill after that, holding OPSU without a hit until the sixth.
On the other side, Austin Jacobs for OPSU held the Coyotes to five hits and one run, which came in the bottom of the seventh when Fisher hit a ground-rule double that brought in Sipe who led off the inning with a double.
Six different Coyotes had hits in the second game, while Sipe drove in four. Oscar Sanchez (JR/Celina, Texas) got the win in relief, tossing two innings allowing two hits and recording three strikeouts.
In the opener five different players had a hit each. Dewyer took the loss, allowing four runs, two earned, on three hits with six strikeouts.