KWU Athletics
Kansas Wesleyan scored eight runs in its final two at bats in the second game of Wednesday's doubleheader to earn a split with the Tabor Bluejays at Bill Burke Park.
Tabor won the opener 8-6, and the Coyotes got the 10-2 run-rule win in the nightcap.
The game was played in less than ideal weather conditions with the wind howling out of the northwest, making fly balls adventurous endeavors for fielders at times.
The second game was tied 2-2 heading into the fourth inning as the Coyotes had already started their rally after falling behind 2-0 in the top of the first inning.
Carmen Angulo (SR/Long Beach, Calif.) got the Wesleyan rally started in the fourth with a single, followed by a single by Lauren Blue (SR/Arlington, Texas). Paige Anderson (JR/Lakeville, Minn.) walked and Jocelyn Alcala (SO/Fullerton, Calif.) reached on a fielder's choice that did not yield an out, but instead brought in a run when the throw from second base sailed wide allowing Angulo to score.
Then Mia Hernandez (FR/Hanford, Calif.) stepped up to the plate and crushed a ball out to right center for a grand slam to put the Coyotes up 7-2 after four innings.
Wesleyan put the cap on things in the bottom of the fifth all on a two-out rally. Blue walked, Anderson singled and Alcala walked to load the bases. Hernandez then was walked to force in a run. Samantha Herrera (FR/Lake Jackson, Texas) followed with a RBI single and Brianna McGinnis (SR/Tucson, Ariz.) walked to bring in the game-ending run.
Tabor took a 2-0 lead in the first inning of the second game on a pair of RBI singles, but a double play would end the Bluejay rally.
The Coyotes got a run back in the bottom of the second when McGinnis reached on an error, then scored when Destiny Hackney (FR/Thornton, Colo.) rocketed a ball off the Tabor pitcher's foot for a hit.
Wesleyan got one more in the third when Alcala led off with a single then scored on Herrera's double to the fence in right center.
Hernandez and Herrera had two hits each for the Coyotes. Angulo got the win in the circle allowing two runs on four hits.
In the opener, the Coyotes took an early 2-0 lead after two innings, scoring a run in each inning.
Anderson led off the first with a walk, then Alcala reached on a fielder's choice. Hernandez singled then Herrera drove in the first run with a sacrifice fly.
In the second, McGinnis walked and Bailey Rivas (SO/West Covina, Calif.) singled giving the Coyotes runners on the corners. Rivas stole second, and McGinnis would score on the play when Tabor's catcher threw the ball into center field.
Tabor scored five times in the top of the third, capitalizing on a pair of KWU errors.
The Coyotes got a run back in the bottom of the third on a RBI double by Hernandez that scored Anderson, who led off the frame with a walk.
Tabor added single tallies in the fifth and sixth before the Coyotes put together a rally in the bottom of the sixth to get within a run at 7-6.
Hernandez reached on an error to start the inning, then Herrera doubled home pinch runner Kyndyll Garrison (SO/Fresno, Calif.). Two batters later, McGinnis tripled to score Anahi Agredano (SO/Anaheim, Calif.), and Rivas drove in the final run of the inning with a sacrifice fly.
Tabor got an insurance run in the top of the seventh, but the Coyotes could not put together a rally in the bottom of the inning.
Hernandez had two hits for the Coyotes. Jewell Henry (SO/Kingston, Okla.) took the loss allowing five runs, only one earned, in two and two-thirds innings.
Wesleyan is back in action on Saturday at Avila.