BRANSON, Mo. – Kansas Wesleyan Softball split its two games on Friday at the Branson Grand Slam Tournament. KWU lost to No. 9 ranked Our Lady of the Lake (Texas) 5-2 in the first game, then bounced back to defeat Doane 4-0 at the Branson RecPlex.
 
The Coyotes jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning as walks to Cadence Mallet and Brooklyn Lange started the Coyote rally. Jenna Soule used a sacrifice bunt to move the runners up and Trenity Miller drove in the first run with a single. Hailey Summers followed with a single to bring in the second run of the inning.
 
OLLU capitalized on a KWU error in the bottom of the second inning to score four unearned runs and grab the lead.
 
The Saints extended the lead to 5-2 in the bottom of the sixth inning to 5-2.
 
The Coyotes had four hits in the game, two by Miller. Bella Allen took the loss in the circle, allowing five runs, only one earned, on five hits in six innings.
 
Against Doane, the Coyotes took advantage of a Tiger error in the bottom of the first inning to take a 1-0 lead. Elli Han led off the frame reaching on an error and then scored on Mallet's single.
 
The score stayed the same until the bottom of the fifth when the Coyotes plated three more runs. Takara Kolterman led off the inning with a single and three batters later Briannah Kutschkau singled to score pinch runner Josie Buhr. Mallet followed with an RBI double and Miller drove in a run with a single.
 
The Coyotes had 10 hits in the game, with two each from Kutschkau, Mallet and Grace Pierce. Caitlyn Collier picked up the win in the circle, holding Doane to only four hits in the shut out.
 
KWU is back in action on Saturday, facing Mission (Mo.) at 2 p.m. and Mount Marty at 4 p.m.
 
The Coyotes return home on Tuesday, hosting Sterling in the KCAC Opener at 1 p.m. at Salina South High School.