HILLSBORO – Kansas Wesleyan Softball locked in a berth in the KCAC Softball Tournament on Tuesday as the Coyotes swept Tabor at the Tabor Softball Field. The Coyotes won the opener 2-0 and closed the night with a thrilling 10-9 extra innings victory.
KWU locked in the No. 6 seed in next week's KCAC tournament that KWU is hosting at Salina South High School.
In the second game, the Coyotes trailed 4-1 heading into the sixth inning, but put together a 4-run rally to take a 5-4 lead in the sixth.
Kendell Wilcox singled and
Keira Hammen reached on an error setting up
MacKenzie Vela to drive in a run with a single.
Cadence Mallet and
Madison Geer both had RBI singles to tie the game and
Deja Rubio brought home the go-ahead run with a bunt single.
Tabor tied it in the bottom half of the inning, but neither team could score in the seventh sending the game to extras.
In the eighth, Rubio doubled to bring in the tiebreak runner Vela.
Morgan Rasmussen singled to bring in a run and
Brooklyn Lange grounded out to bring in a run to make it 8-5 Coyotes.
Tabor was able to tied it in the bottom of the inning, forcing a ninth frame.
Madisyn Havenstein led off the KWU ninth with a bunt single to move the tiebreak runner Wilcox to third and Vela's ground out brought in the run. Later in the inning Geer singled to bring in Havenstein to push the Coyotes to a 10-8 lead.
Tabor scored a run in the ninth and had the game-tying run at third, but a fielder's choice and a strikeout ended it and secured the win for the Coyotes.
KWU took a 1-0 lead in the third and Rubio reached on an error and then scored on a groundout by Lange.
Tabor took a 2-1 lead with two runs in the fourth, and two more in the fifth.
Bella Allen got the win in the circle in relief, taking over for the Coyotes in the seventh, allowing four runs, two earned, on six hits in three innings, striking out two. KWU's pitchers did not issue a walk in the game. Wilcox had three hits and three others had two each.
Allen was superb in the circle in the first game, scattering five hits while shutting out the Bluejays in the 2-0 win.
The Coyotes put a run on the board in the third as Rubio led off the inning with a single and then scored on a groundout by Wilcox.
KWU added a run in the fourth on a groundout by Geer that scored a run after Vela led off the inning with a single and went to third when
Brooklynn Smith reached on an error.
Lange, Vela and Rubio had two hits each for the Coyotes in the game. Allen scattered five hits in the shutout win, and did not walk a single batter.
The Coyotes have one final tune-up before next week's KCAC tournament as KWU hosts Hesston at 1 p.m. on Wednesday at Salina South High School.
