McPHERSON, Kan. — It was an action packed twin bill between the Bulldogs and the Coyotes as KWU was able to secure a victory in game one while MC struck back with a big win in game two on Saturday (Mar. 8).
Game One- RV Kansas Wesleyan-8 McPherson-3
It did not take long for the Coyotes to flex their muscles and take the momentum as a six run top of the second inning, highlighted by a two run triple and a three run homerun, quickly gave Kansas Wesleyan a 6-0 lead. The hot start carried over the mound as the Bulldogs were kept off the scoreboard thanks to a strong start from Brett Maddock as the Coyotes got seven innings of work and six strikeouts.
Kansas Wesleyan added to the lead in the top of the fifth inning thanks to one of four MC errors and a sacrifice fly to take a 8-0 lead heading into the tail end of the contest. The Bulldogs finally began to chip into the deficit in the bottom of the seventh as
Colt Sussex-Uphold brought in
Jared Kramp with an RBI double and
Dawson Walters brought him in right after to make it an 8-2 deficit.
The efforts of
Brayden Noland and
Nick Berryman out of the bullpen for MC kept Kansas Wesleyan off the scoreboard and the Bulldogs were able to score another run in the bottom of the ninth inning to make it 8-3, but the Bulldogs stranded the bases loaded and dropped game one of the day.
Game Two- McPherson-6 RV Kansas Wesleyan-5
The Coyotes, much like they did in game one, wasted no time in taking control of the contest as a fielder's choice and a walk with the bases loaded in the top of the first inning gave Kansas Wesleyan a quick 2-0 lead. Unlike game one, the Bulldogs were able to strike right back as a pair of RBI singles from
Peyton Starr and
Colin Evers tied the game and a fielding error by the Coyotes gave MC a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the first. The one run lead would grow to a two run advantage as
Braden Schiffner secured an RBI with a sacrifice fly to make it 4-2 in the bottom of the second inning.
It would stay a 4-2 game all the way to the latter stages of the contest when Kansas Wesleyan finally broke through in the top of the fifth as a huge RBI triple and a sacrifice fly tied the game up. The Coyotes remained unsatisfied with a tie as a sacrifice fly in the top of the sixth allowed Kansas Wesleyan to retake a 5-4 lead. Come the bottom of the sixth inning, the big bat of Starr came up huge as a two run homerun gave his team a 6-5 lead and sent the boys in the dugout into a frenzy as the Bulldogs once again flipped the game on it's head.
Now with their backs against the wall, the Coyotes needed a run to extend the game. Thanks to a shutdown closing effort from
Zach Foote, that run never came and MC secured a huge bounce back victory.
The Bulldogs will face off against Kansas Wesleyan tomorrow, March 9 as the two squads wrap up their three game series with the rubber match. First pitch is set for 1:00 p.m.
