Owensboro, Ky. – The Kentucky Wesleyan baseball team fell to regional opponent Oakland City on Tuesday afternoon at Panther Park.

The Mighty Oaks (24-10, 10-1 RSC) started fast, plating two in the top of the second on a two-run home run.

Later, in the top of the third, Oakland City added two more on another two-run home run to double their lead at 4-0.

Although the pitching staff kept the Mighty Oaks quiet from there, with Bryant Byrd posting a scoreless fourth, Josh Tucker following with two scoreless innings, and Zach Taylor recording a scoreless seventh, the Panthers (11-15, 4-6 G-MAC) couldn't get anything going at the plate heading into the eighth.

Oakland City broke the game wide open in the top half of the eighth with a two-out rally, using several walks and a couple singles to score five runs in the frame and take a commanding 9-0 advantage.

Wesleyan woke up in the bottom half of the eighth. Liam Hutson singled to lead off, Rhett Dysholm worked a walk, and Tate VanHooser doubled to left field to drive in Hutson. Colson Perry came up next and launched his second home run of the campaign to put the Panthers within five at 9-4.

After David Castleberry put the Mighty Oaks down quietly in the top half, Wesleyan attempted one more push in the bottom of the ninth. Davin Yates led off with his first home run of the season to make the score 9-5, but the Panthers ran out of outs in the defeat.

The Panthers next battle Malone in a four-game set beginning on Thursday, April 3 at 9:00 AM. The series, originally scheduled to be at Panther Park from Friday-Saturday, will now be played in Canton, Ohio.

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