OWENSBORO, Ky. – The Kentucky Wesleyan College baseball team continued its dominance on Saturday, defeating the Davis & Elkins Senators 11-2 and 12-5 in the final two games of the Great Midwest Athletic Conference series. With the pair of victories the Panthers improve to 18-17 overall and 7-5 in the conference.
Game One: Davis & Elkins 2 – Kentucky Wesleyan 11
The Panthers held a 7-1 lead after the first two innings, with Adam Brown, Cody Bridges and Seth Campbell each contributing one-run singles. Andrew Kirkland hit a three-run home run to left center in the bottom of the second, his first of three home runs on the day.
Davis & Elkins scored one run in the top of the fourth to make it 7-2 but Kentucky Wesleyan pulled away with three runs in the bottom of the inning. Kirkland drove in two with his second home run of the game, and Nathan Stemle brought home Levi Tanner on a two-out single up the middle.
Kirkland drove in the final run of the game for the Panthers in the bottom of the fifth with a double to left field. The junior finished game one three-for-four at the plate with six runs batted in, two runs scored, two home runs and one double.
Mitchell Jones went the distance in his second win of the season, striking out six and allowing two runs off of five hits and two walks in 7.0 innings.
Bridges finished game one four-for-five at the plate with two runs scored. Brown, Jackson and Stemle each recorded two hits while Campbell tabbed one.
Game Two: Davis & Elkins 5 – Kentucky Wesleyan 12
The Panthers gave up three runs in the first inning to find themselves in a 3-0 deficit, the first time they trailed during the four-game series. A two-out rally in the bottom of the inning plated three runs for the Panthers to tie things back up. Brown, Jackson and Joseph Burke each drove in one run with singles to left field.
Kentucky Wesleyan extended its lead in the bottom of the third four straight hits from Jackson, Burke, Tanner and Stemle. Bridges capped off the inning with a sacrifice fly to put the Panthers ahead 8-4 after three innings.
Kirkland hit his third home run of the day in the bottom of the fourth, this one a two-run shot to right center. Three batters later, Tanner drove in Jackson with a single up the middle to extend the lead to seven.
The final run was tacked on in the bottom of the seventh with Kirkland bringing home Campbell on a sacrifice fly to centerfield with two outs.
Sammy Holder pitched up his fourth win of the season, pitching 5.0 innings and striking out two while allowing four runs off of nine hits. Spencer Jackson threw 1.0 inning, striking out three of the four batters faced. Aaron Hendrickson, Nate Verst, and Alex Franzen combined to pitch the final 3.0 innings, combining for three strike outs with Verst giving up one run.
Kirkland finished game two two-for-three at the plate with three runs batted in, three runs scored, one double and one home run. Tanner went four-for-five with two runs batted in and one run scored. Brown and Burke each tabbed three hits while Campbell, Jackson and Stemle recorded two apiece. Bridges, Josh Galvan and Lane Kennemore each had one hit.
The Panthers return to action on Tuesday as they head to Evansville, Ind. for a non-conference matchup against University of Southern Indiana. Kentucky Wesleyan will then head to Cedarville, Ohio next weekend for a four-game G-MAC series against Cedarville with a pair of doubleheaders on Friday and Saturday, both slated for an 11 am CT first pitch.
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