OWENSBORO, Ky. – The Kentucky Wesleyan baseball team notched a come-from-behind 7-5 victory over Purdue Northwest in the series finale Sunday afternoon.
Wesleyan took three of four from the Pride (2-4) and now sits at 9-5 overall this year.
Noah Cook (W, 1-0) got the first two batters out on just one pitch each to begin the game as part of a 1-2-3 first inning. Cook blanked the Pride again in the top of the second before the Panthers broke the scoreless tie in the bottom half.
Baron Ratliff worked a leadoff walk, stole second, and advanced to third on a ground ball. Ellis Hurt came up with two outs and drove in Ratliff with a dribbler to the pitcher that put the Panthers up 1-0.
Purdue Northwest immediately responded, using a couple singles and an error to score three runs (just one earned) in the third frame.
Fortunately, KWC had an even better response in the bottom of the third. Elijah Stockon led off with a double before Liam Hutson knocked an RBI single to score Stockton. Molnar followed with his own single to put two on for Rhett Dysholm, who delivered with a double down the left field line to score Hutson and tie the game at 3-3.
Ratliff came up next and earned another walk. Ball four was a wild pitch, allowing Molnar to cross the plate to put Wesleyan on top. Ratfliff stole second again to set up Michael Chaney with two runners in scoring position, and the first basemen came through with a single to drive in Dysholm and advance Ratliff to third. To finalize the five-run inning, Tucker Hagan reached on a fielder's choice that allowed Ratfliff to cross the plate and increased KWC's advantage to 6-3.
Cook later worked around a leadoff single in the top of the fifth to post a zero and close his line. The sophomore went five innings and allowed three runs (one earned) with five strikeouts.
Zach Taylor came on for the sixth and posted a three-up, three-down inning. In the seventh, Weston Miller and Jacob Dilday combined to work around a lot of traffic and post a zero.
The Panthers added their final run in the bottom half of the seventh. Chaney walked and advanced on a ground ball later in the inning before Colson Perry delivered a double over the left fielder to score Chaney and give the Panthers extra breathing room at 7-3.
Jacob Riegel was called on for the eighth. After two singles and a double for two runs in the frame, Riegel settled in nicely and halted the Pride's comeback attempt as Wesleyan maintained their lead at 7-5.
David Castleberry (S, 1) trotted out of the bullpen for the save attempt in the top of the ninth. After a leadoff lineout, Purdue Northwest's Joey Guiliano doubled to put the tying run at the plate. Castleberry came up clutch with back-to-back strikeouts to shut the door and finalize the 7-5 triumph.
It was a balanced offensive attack for KWC. Each of Molnar, Chaney, and Perry had two hits on the day. Perry, Dysholm, and Stockton each recorded a double to account for all three of the Panthers' extra-base hits.
Wesleyan now turns their attention to a four-game set versus Fairmont State next weekend, March 6-8, at the Panther Park. All four games will be streamed live on FloCollege.
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