AUBURNDALE, Fla. – The Kentucky Wesleyan College baseball team, behind a strong pitching performance from Alex Franzen extended its winning streak to five games on Saturday morning. The Panthers downed Saginaw Valley State 8-1 to complete a perfect 5-0 trip to the Sunshine State.
 
Franzen pitched a complete game and was provided ample run support en route to his second victory of the year. Joseph Burke got the Panthers (7-5) on the board in the top of the first with a solo homerun through the wind and over the left field fence. The homerun is Burke's sixth of the year and fourth of the week.
 
The Cardinals (8-5) paid for miscues in the second inning as the Panthers put-up five runs in the frame. With the bases loaded and one-out, an error allowed Brayden Sisson to score the first run of the innings. Cody Bridges followed with a two-run double down the leftfield line to give Wesleyan a 4-0 lead.
 
Lane Kennemore kept the line moving as he ripped a single into right that scored another run while Burke ended the rally with a with sacrifice fly. Franzen took care of the rest as the lone Cardinal run crossed the plate in the bottom of the fourth. For good measure Sisson drove-in a run in the ninth with a two-out hit while Ian Ellis walked-in another, giving the Panthers an 8-1 lead.
 
Franzen allowed one run on four hits with a career-high 13 strikeouts.  Sisson and Kennemore each finished the game two for five.
 
The Panther are scheduled to open Great Midwest play on Friday in Vienna, West Virginia. The Panthers will play Ohio Valley with the first pitch scheduled for 11 AM CT.
 
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