BARTLESVILLE, Okla. – The Kansas Wesleyan Coyotes did their part on Saturday against No. 23 ranked Oklahoma Wesleyan for a chance to end the day in first place in the KCAC. KWU swept the Eagles, 11-2 and 9-7 at Doenges Field.
And, the Coyotes got some help from the Ottawa Braves, as Ottawa swept McPherson on Saturday, pushing the Coyotes into the lead in the Kansas Conference standings by a game over the Bulldogs.
The Coyotes needed some late inning heroics to complete the series sweep over the Eagles, and pick up their 11th straight win. The Coyotes also overcame five errors in the game.
OKWU scored three runs in the fifth and sixth innings to end up tying the game at 7-7 heading into the seventh. The Coyotes were down to their final out of the inning, when Kevin Esquilin-Cruz (SR/Trujilo Alto, Puerto Rico) walked, and then pinch hitter Zach Olson (JR/Red Deer, Alberta) homered to center field to give the Coyotes a 9-7 lead in the game.
KWU then closed it out in the bottom of the inning with a fly out and a double play to end it.
The Eagles took a 1-0 lead in the game, but the Coyotes answered with three runs in the second as Esquilin-Cruz singled to score Haydn Brown (SR/Gardnerville, Nev.), and later in the inning, William Dryburgh (SR/St. Joseph, Mo.) drove in two with a hit.
Esquilin-Cruz drove in another run for the Coyotes in the third to make it 4-1.
In the fourth, Kendall Foster (SR/Prosper, Texs) reached on an error and then scored on Dustin Sipe (SR/Aztec, N.M.)'s homer.
OKWU got three back in the fifth, and after the Coyotes scored one on Foster's sacrifice fly in the sixth, the Eagles added three in the bottom of the inning to tie it.
Dryburgh, Sipe, Brown, and Esquilin-Cruz had two hits each for the Coyotes. Ryan Sandoval (SR/El Paso, Texas) got the win for the Coyotes, coming on in the sixth and pitching the seventh allowing just one hit with two strikeouts.
In the opener, the Coyotes got the scoring going early. Foster walked in the first and scored on Brown's 2-run homer.
The Coyotes added another in the second when Dryburgh was hit by a pitch and later scored when Zack Beatty (JR/Maple Park, Ill.) reached on a 2-out error in the inning. OKWU got a run across in the bottom of the third on a sacrifice fly.
KWU didn't score again until the sixth when Esquilin-Cruz had a RBI triple, Diego Solis (SO/El Paso, Texas) followed with a RBI single and then scored on a wild pitch.
Oklahoma got a run across in the bottom of the inning, but Kansas added two more in the seventh on Beatty's 2-run single, and two more in the ninth on Sipe's 2-run homer.
Sipe had three hits to lead the Coyotes, while Brown had two and Solis had two.
Jarrett Brannen (JR/Bakersfield, Calif.) got the win for the Coyotes, going six innings, allowing two runs on six hits with two strikeouts.
KWU is back in action on Tuesday with a single game at Sterling. KWU then plays its final home series of the season next weekend against Ottawa. Saturday will be the doubleheader starting at 1 p.m., and Sunday will be the single game also at 1 p.m., all at The Dean.