LINDSBORG – Whatever transpired for the Kansas Wesleyan Coyotes between the first and second game of Sunday’s resumed doubleheader with the Bethany Swedes needs to be bottled up and saved for later.
After dropping the first game 8-7, the Coyotes turned up the offense and cruised to a record breaking 33-2 win in the second game.
The doubleheader was originally scheduled for Saturday, but a severe thunderstorm deluged the field and forced the games to be postponed until Sunday. The first game resumed in the top of the second inning where it had been suspended when the storm hit.
Bethany would get the series win, winning Friday, but the Coyotes remain a game up on the Swedes for the sixth and final playoff spot with three games remaining. Bethany plays last place Southwestern in the final weekend series, KWU faces No. 22 ranked Tabor in its final series.
In the second game on Sunday, the Coyotes set two new team records, 33 runs in a single game is a new team record, eclipsing the record of 27 against in 2018. The Coyotes also set a new record for largest margin of victory in a game of 31. One individual record was set by William Dryburgh (SR/St. Joseph, Mo.) for consecutive at-bats reaching on an error with three, as he got on base via a Bethany miscue in his first three at-bats.
William Dryburgh led off the game reaching on an error then scored on Haydn Brown (SR/Gardnerville, Nev.)’s sacrifice fly. The Coyotes went back-to-back homers later in the inning, a 2-run shot by Jalen Jones (SO/Katy, Texas), and a solo shot by Josh Sandoval (SR/Glendale, Ariz.) to put KWU up 4-0 after an inning.
Brandon Zwiener (JR/Norfolk, Neb.) homered to open the second and spark an 11-run rally for the Coyotes. Dryburgh reached on an error for the second time and scored on Dustin Sipe (JR/Aztec, N.M.)’s bases loaded walk. Two runs scored on a hit by Jones to deep center field and Sandoval followed with a 2-run single. Yealex Lopez-Torres (JR/Arecibo, Puerto Rico) drove in a run with a hit, and Dryburgh reached on another error to load the bases. After a second Bethany pitching change in the inning, Kevin Esquilin Cruz (JR/Trujilo Alto, Puerto Rico) quickly unloaded the bases with a grand slam putting the Coyotes up 15-0.
Six more came across for the Coyotes in the third. Lopez-Torres had a 2-run double and Dryburgh added a RBI single. Esquilin Cruz, Brown, and Sipe all walked, Brown and Sipe forcing in runs and Jones was hit by a pitch to bring in the sixth run of the inning.
Four more runs came on one swing of the bat in the fourth inning. The Coyotes loaded the bases and Brown unloaded them with the second grand slam of the game for the Coyotes.
KWU added six more in the fifth. Byron Cox (SR/Allen, Texas) scored on a wild pitch, Dryburgh drove in a run with a single, John Downey (SR/Redding, Calif.) had a 2-run double, Diego Fisher (JR/Hollister, Calif.) singled home a run and Brock Downing (SR/Arvada, Colo.) singled home a run as well.
KWU added one more in the sixth as Lopez-Torres led off with a double. Robbie Keener (FR/Abilene, Kan.) then pinch hit for Dryburgh, and reached on an error, making the fourth time that spot in the lineup reached on an error in the game, and Downey doubled to bring in the run.
Branden Voytko (JR/El Paso, Texas) was dominant in his pitching performance, allowing two runs on five hits with eight strikeouts. Ethan Wilson (SR/Thackerville, Okla.) pitched two perfect innings in relief, with five strikeouts. Dryburgh, Esquilin Cruz, Zwiener, and Lopez-Torres had three hits each. Brown drove in six runs, and Esquilin Cruz had five RBI.
In the resumed first game on Sunday, Bethany got an 8-7 win when the Coyotes gave up three runs in the eighth, and left the go-ahead run at second base in the ninth.
The Coyotes took an early lead scoring twice in the second on Dryburgh’s sacrifice fly and Esquilin Cruz’s double.
KWU added two more in the third after four straight walks to Jones, Zach Olson (SO/Red, Alberta), Jarrett Gable (JR/Colleyville, Texas) and Aaron Gardner (SR/Tucson, Ariz.) and then a balk.
Bethany got three unearned runs in the third, taking advantage of a KWU error.
Jones drove in a run for the Coyotes in the sixth, but another KWU error in the bottom of the inning allowed Bethany to score two more unearned runs to tie the game 5-5.
Wesleyan would take advantage of a Bethany error in the seventh as Dryburgh reached on an error that scored Gable who led off with a single, and Esquilin Cruz drove in a run with a sacrifice fly.
Bethany took the lead with three runs in the eighth.
Gable was hit and Gardner doubled to give KWU runners at second and third with one out in the ninth, but KWU could not push a run across.
Esquilin Cruz, Brown, Jones and Gardner had two hits each for the Coyotes in the game. Ryan Sandoval (JR/El Paso, Texas) suffered the loss. Trent Dewyer (JR/Albuquerque, N.M.) went five innings plus in his start, allowing five runs, none of them earned on six hits with three strikeouts.
The Coyotes close the regular season with a big series on Friday and Saturday at Tabor in Hillsboro. Friday’s single game starts at 3 p.m. and Saturday’s twin bill at 1 p.m.
