OWENSBORO, Ky. – The Kentucky Wesleyan College softball team posted two wins on Sunday over Davis & Elkins College to sweep day two of the weekend series and split the Great Midwest Athletic Conference series 2-2. With the two victories, the Panthers reached 20 wins for the fourth straight season and sixth under Head Coach Miles Mallette. Kentucky Wesleyan improves to 20-14 overall and 5-3 in conference play.
Game One: Davis & Elkins 1 – Kentucky Wesleyan 6
The Panthers scored five runs in the bottom of the first and that's all it took in the five-run win. Meredith Daunhauer led off the game with a single through the left side and scored on a single from Courtney Lockwood. Lexi Mullen drove in Maddie Dawson with a sacrifice fly after Dawson got on base after being hit by a pitch. A single from Mallory Nease loaded the bases with one out for Kentucky Wesleyan. Abbey Winstead brought home all three base runners with a monster double to right center field.
Autumn Grady gave up two hits in the first inning, but held the Senators scoreless for the remainder of the game, only allowing one base runner in the middle four innings. Grady worked out of a one-out bases loaded jam in the top of the sixth. A sacrifice fly brought in the first run of the game for Davis & Elkins but Abbey Winstead made a quick throw from left field to Maddie Dawson at third base complete the double play and tag the runner out trying to advance to third.
Kentucky Wesleyan extended its lead to 6-1 in the bottom of the sixth. Jamie Tempel reached first on a field error by the second basemen and eventually scored on a single up the middle from Dawson.
In her seventh win of the season, Grady struck out five and allowed one run off of two hits and three walks in 6.0 innings. In one inning of relief, Maci Brown struck out two and held the Senators hitless.
Nease finished game one two-for-three at the plate with one run scored while Jaylin Tidwell went two-for-four with one run scored. Winstead led the Panthers with three runs batted in off of one hit. Daunhauer, Dawson and Lockwood each recorded one hit.
Game Two: Davis & Elkins 3 – Kentucky Wesleyan 5
The Panthers held a 4-0 lead after the third inning. Mullen led off the bottom of the second with a double to center field and scored on a two-out triple from Jaclyn Parker. In the bottom of the third, Mullen smashed a three-run home run to left field for her team-leading fifth home run of the season.
Davis & Elkins plated two runs in the top of the fifth to cut Kentucky Wesleyan's lead in half and keep it a two-run game entering the final two innings.
Parker led off the bottom of the sixth with a single to left field and moved to second with a sacrifice bunt from Daunhauer. Dawson ripped a single through the right side, bringing home Parker and extending the Panthers lead to three.
The Senators threatened in the top of the seventh, leading off with a home run and putting runners on the corners with one out. A hard ground ball to third base resulted in a Dawson-Mullen-Lockwood double play, allowing the Panthers to hold on for the 5-3 win.
Maci Brown pitched 6.0 innings in her ninth win of the season, striking out one and allowed three runs off of eight hits. Casey Smith picked up her third save of the season, pitching 1.0 inning and holding the Senators scoreless with only one hit.
Parker went three-for-three in game two with one run batted in and one run scored. Mullen finished two-for-three with three runs driven in and scoring two herself. Tidwell tabbed two hits while Dawson recorded one.
The Panthers will be back in action on Tuesday as they head to Trevecca Nazarene for a G-MAC doubleheader. Kentucky Wesleyan will then travel to Pepper Pike, Ohio for a four-game series against Ursuline currently schedule for Friday and Saturday.
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