OWENSBORO, KY. – On a blistery day at Panther Park, the Kentucky Wesleyan College baseball team split the opening two games of Great Midwest Conference action. Wesleyan dropped the opener to Northwood University 16-3 before bouncing back in game two with a 5-2 victory. 
 
In the opener the winds were blowing steady at 18 miles per hour. The Timberwolves (4-11, 1-1 G-MAC) struck first with a run in the top of the second and two more runs in the third to take a 3-0 lead. The Panthers (11-9, 1-1 G-MAC) bounced back as Davin Yates and Jacob Riegel set the table for Colson Perry in the bottom half of the third. Perry singled up the middle to score a pair, cutting the deficit to 3-2. 
 
Northwood added two more runs in the top of the fifth to extend the lead to 5-2. With some two-out magic, Liam Hutson drove in Riegel with a single into rightfield. However, the Timberwolves scored three in the seventh and eight in the ninth to distance the Panthers.  Hutson finished the game two for four with an RBI. 
 
In the second game, Ethan Ell took to the rubber for the Panthers and pitched six plus innings to earn his third win of the season. Ell allowed two runs, both earned on six hits with five strikeouts. 
 
Hutson led-off the bottom of the first inning with a solo homerun. Later in the frame an error allowed another run to cross the plate as Rhett Dysholm hit a liner to the pitcher who threw the ball away allowing the second run to score. Tucker Hagan followed with a double that scored a third run, giving Wesleyan a 3-0 lead. 
 
Luke Renfrow made it a 4-0 Panther lead in the bottom of the second inning as he led off the frame with a solo homerun over the centerfield fence. Wesleyan added another run in the sixth as Dysholm led-off with a walk and came around to score on Logan Molnar's double into the left-centerfield gap. 
 
Drama hit its peak in the seventh as Northwood loaded the bases with no-outs. The Panthers then walked in run. A ground-out scored another run as Northwood pulled within 5-2. After a hit batter, the bases were loaded again, this time with one out. David Castleberry entered and shut the door with a strikeout and groundout, earning his third save of the season. Hutson finished the game two for three with a homerun and an RBI.
 
The Panthers will have two more games with the Timberwolves on Saturday. First pitch at Panther Park is scheduled for 12PM. 
 
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