KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Kansas Wesleyan swept both ends of Saturday’s doubleheader to come away with a 3-game sweep of the series with the Avila Eagles at the Zarda Multisport Complex.
The series sweep completes a 4-0 week for the Coyotes, who also beat Sterling in Tuesday’s midweek conference tilt. KWU has won four straight and eight of the last nine.
Wesleyan only needed seven innings to cage the Eagles in Saturday’s opener, 15-4.
Avila had an early 1-0 lead after two innings before the Coyote offense erupted in the top of the third for seven runs. Sisipako Vehikite (JR/Santa Clara, Calif.) led off the third with a homer, Trey Lopez (SR/Burlington, Wash.) had a RBI double that scored William Dryburgh (SO/St. Joseph, Mo.), Dalton Bishop (JR/Colorado Springs, Colo.) walked with the bases loaded, Austin Cross (JR/Montgomery, Texas) had a RBI groundout, Dalton Whitaker (SR/Edmond, Okla.) had a 2-run double and Dryburgh had a RBI single for Wesleyan’s seven runs in the frame.
The Eagles scored a run in the third, but the Coyotes got one back in the fourth when Lopez led off the inning with a homer. KWU added another in the fifth, when Cross led off the inning with a homer, and the Coyotes did it again, for a fourth straight inning, leading off the sixth with a homer by Haydn Brown (SR/Gardnerville, Nev.). Tyler Triano (SO/Hollister, Calif.) added a homer in the sixth as well.
Wesleyan got four more on the board in the seventh to put it out of reach and end early on the run rule. Brown had a 2-run double and Sandoval had a 2-run single in the inning.
Oscar Sanchez (JR/Celina, Texas) got the win, throwing six innings, allowing three runs, two earned on three hits with eight strikeouts. He was a late add to the starting lineup as projected starter Jansen Lublin (FR/San Diego, Calif.) was injured during warm-ups. Dylan Epke (FR/Wichita, Kan.) struck out four in the seventh (one batter reached on an error following a strikeout), in his only inning of work. Five different Coyotes had two hits. Brown drove in three.
Avila had an early lead 2-0 in the first of the second game before the Coyotes got runs in the third on a Dryburgh RBI single to score Cross, and in the fourth on a leadoff homer by Lopez, to tie things up.
Avila took the lead in the bottom of the fourth with two runs, but the Coyotes got another leadoff homer by Vehikite in the fifth to get within a run.
Wesleyan’s offense came alive in the sixth, scoring eight times. KWU loaded the bases with nobody out and Cross would reach on a two-base error in the outfield that allowed two runs to score. Tyler Latham (JR/Wichita Falls, Texas) drove in a run with a single, Brown walked with the bases loaded to force in a run, and then Josh Sandoval (SR/Glendale, Ariz.) crushed a grand slam to center field to put KWU up 11-4.
Cross drove in a run in the seventh for the Coyotes after Bishop doubled to start the inning.
Avila got a run in the seventh, but left the bases loaded as KWU would complete the sweep with the 12-6 win.
A balanced offensive attack for the Coyote was led by Triano and Cross with two hits each, while six others had one hit. Sandoval drove in four runs.
Ethan Wilson (JR/Thackerville, Okla.) got the win in relief for the Coyotes, allowing a run on two hits in an inning and a third of relief of Kaden Sitzman (SR/McCook, Neb.) who went 3-2/3 allowing three earned runs on five hits.
Wesleyan returns to action on Tuesday, hosting York at 3 p.m. at Dean Evans Stadium.
