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The Kentucky Wesleyan baseball team picked up one win in their three game series over nationally ranked North Georgia over the weekend. The Panthers (4-2) used a seven run eighth inning to rally in the final game of the series to defeat the Nighthawks 11-8.
In the first game, the Panthers got off to a strong start. Troy Paris hit a two-run homerun to put KWC up 2-0 after the first. In the third, Kentucky Wesleyan added on to their lead. Adam Brown doubled down the left field line, and Josh Galvan would single to right center to extend the lead to 4-0. The Panthers would not record a hit the rest of the game. North Georgia would score runs in the fourth, fifth, seventh, and eighth to reclaim the lead at 5-4 to eventually win the game. Andrew Moralez threw five innings, and struck out five for KWC.
In the second game, North Georgia led only 2-0 before the bottom of the sixth inning. In the next three innings, the Nighthawks scored 12 runs to completely blow open the game at 14-0. The Panthers threw five pitchers, and gave up a combined 10 earned runs. Kentucky Wesleyan would score three runs in the top half of the ninth inning, but fell short 14-3. Adam Brown recorded two hits in game two for the Panthers.
In the final game of the weekend, it looked early on that the Panthers were going to get swept. North Georgia scored five runs in the bottom of the third on four hits. In the top of the fourth, Jeremy Cline put KWC on board with a solo homerun to centerfield to cut into the lead at 5-1. The Nighthawks picked up two more runs in the bottom of the fourth to lead 7-1. Kentucky Wesleyan would not go down without a fight.
The Panthers trailed 7-4 heading into the top of the eighth inning, but KWC would explode for seven runs to lead 11-8. The Panthers had two outs quickly in the inning, but were able to draw several walks and advance runners around the bases to score. Kentucky Wesleyan only picked up one hit in the inning, but they led by three runs heading into the ninth. North Georgia scored one more run in the bottom of the ninth, but KWC sealed the deal. Jeremy Cline led KWC with two hits. Josh Galvan, Troy Paris, and Nathan Stemle each had two RBI's in the game. Austin Tibbs collected the win for Kentucky Wesleyan. He struck out five in just two innings of work.
Kentucky Wesleyan will be on the road this weekend against Tusculum. The Panthers will play two games on Saturday, and one on Sunday.
