Photo by Jakob Komel
Salina, Kan. – The McPherson College baseball team played their first KCAC weekend series on Friday and Saturday, going on the road against the Kansas Wesleyan University Coyotes. The two squads  played a single nine inning game on Friday followed by a double header on Saturday.
After opening up KCAC play on Tuesday with a walk-off win at home against Tabor on Tuesday, the Bulldogs were eager to get their first weekend series under their belt. They were also eager to take on the Coyotes, who won the series on the Bulldogs' home turf a season ago, and who tied with the Bulldogs in the KCAC preseason coaches' poll.
The series didn't get off to a fantastic start for the boys in red. They dropped Friday's series opener 6-4 despite four gifts in the form of defensive errors from the Coyotes. The Bulldogs jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the first, and then led 3-1 after five innings of play. KWU cut the lead to 3-2 in the bottom of the sixth, but the Bulldogs answered back with a run in the next half inning to go back up by two, 4-2. In the bottom of the seventh, the Coyotes erupted with four runs, taking their first and only lead of the game. The Bulldogs were unable to put up any more runs, allowing the Coyotes to steal game one, 6-4.
Alex Escobar got the start, seeking his fifth straight win of the season. He gave the Bulldogs six strong innings with eight punch-outs, and just one walked. When he left the game he was staked to a 3-2 lead and in line for the win. Unfortunately, the Bullpen struggled down the stretch. Jacob Gilcrease was first out of the pen. He gave up the four runs in the seventh inning on a pair of home runs and ended up being shackled with the loss. Noah Carpenter also got an inning of work in, holding the Coyotes hitless and scoreless while recording one strikeout.
Offensively, the Bulldogs scored their four runs on seven hits highlighted by a 2 for 4 performance from Gage Ninness that included a double, and two run homerun from Trevor Johnson which put him in a tie with Kyle Lux atop the all-time homerun list.
The Bulldogs regrouped and came out with a purpose on Saturday, picking up lopsided wins in both games to secure the series 2-1.
In the first game, the Bulldogs jumped out to a 6-3 lead halfway through the fourth inning. In the bottom of the fourth, the Coyotes hung seven on the board and retook the lead 10-6. The Bulldogs gathered themselves, go some things sorted out and only surrendered one more run the rest of the game. Meanwhile, at the same time, the offense caught fire putting up 18 runs over the course of the final five innings including nine in the sixth and seven in the eighth, leading to a 24-11 win to even the series.
Pitching duties in game two were handled by committee. Four pitchers saw action staring with Drake Miller who worked the first two innings. Out of the pen it was Alex Amaral for an inning and a third, Isaiah Vasquez for two and two-thirds, and Zach Reyonlds threw the final two innings. In all, they combined for 11 runs, on 13 hits, eight strikeouts, and six walks. Vasquez and Reynolds had the most punch-outs, each finishing with three. Vasquez was on the bump when the Bulldogs retook the lead, giving him his first win of the season.
Offensively, the Bulldogs had 22 hits with nine different players joining the hit parade, and seven of those nine recording multiple hits. Half of their hit total went for extra bases including eight doubles, and three homeruns. James Canar had the best average, going 5 for 7 with three doubles and four RBI. The other highlight was an opposite field homerun by Johnson making him the Bulldogs' career leader in homeruns.
The Bulldogs kept the offense rolling in the series finale. The game was tied 3-3 through three innings of play when the Bulldogs broke the game open with a six run fourth inning to take the lead 9-3. The Coyotes got two of those runs back in the bottom of the fourth, but the Bulldogs answered back with two of their own in the next half inning to lead 11-5. The Coyotes added one more in the sixth, but were shut out in the seventh giving the Bulldogs the win 11-6.
Five pitchers saw action in the finale beginning with Julio Acosta who got his first start of the season. He worked the first three innings and finished with four strikeouts and three walks while giving up three runs on three hits to the Coyotes. After Acosta it was Robbie Schmidt, Rolando Fletes, Broc Selstrom, and Justin Lockey out of the bullpen. Fletes worked an inning and two-thirds, the most of the four relievers, and was credited with the win.
Canar and Johnson had the hot bats for the Bulldogs in game three. Johnson was 2 for 4 with a pair of singles, while Canar went 2 for 3, with both hits leaving the yard. As mentioned earlier, Johnson became the Bulldogs' all-time homerun lead with his solo shot in game two, giving him 35 for his career. Canar who set the single season mark for homeruns with the 20 that he hit in 2021, is just four behind Johnson with 31 for his career, which could make the season even more fun to watch.
Coach MacKinnon gave his thoughts on the series saying, "Another weekend of ups and downs for the Bulldogs. A conference series win is always nice, and it was good to see the guys rebound after a tough loss Friday. The weather played a huge factor in the outcome, and although the numbers don't look great, the pitching staff really excelled." He also added, "Special shout-out to Trevor Johnson for passing the all-time HR record set by Kyle Lux last year. Extremely proud of this group!"
 Going 2-1 on the weekend puts the Bulldogs at 13-5 overall, and 3-1 in KCAC play. They are scheduled to be back in action on Tuesday, on the road at Sterling, Kan. for a single nine inning game with the Sterling College Warriors. If the weather cooperates, first pitch will be thrown out at 2:00 pm.
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