OWENSBORO, Ky. – The Kentucky Wesleyan baseball team (12-10, 2-2 G-MAC) earned a walk-off victory in game three before falling just short in game four to ultimately split their series versus Northwood.
Panthers ace Evan Oakley began the game strong with two strikeouts in a 1-2-3 first inning. In the second, Oakley worked around a walk in the second to post another zero before the Timberwolves (5-13, 2-2 G-MAC) inflicted some damage in the following two innings.
With just one out in the third, Northwood's Brennan Hallman lifted a full count pitch over the center field wall to put the road team on the board first. In the fourth, the Timberwolves used a couple singles and a hit-by-pitch to tack another run on and double their lead to 2-0.
Wesleyan immediately got one back in the bottom half of the fourth. Liam Hutson led off with a right field home run for his second homer of the series and seventh of the season to cut the Panthers deficit in half at 2-1.
Oakley worked around a couple singles to put up another zero in the fifth before the KWC offense returned to the plate. Rhett Dyhsolm led off with a double, leading to the Timberwolves making a pitching change. After the swap, Tucker Hagan had a productive groundout to move Dysholm to third and Logar Molnar lifted a sacrifice fly to score Dysholm and tie the game at 2-2.
Elijah Stockton continued the inning with a single to set up Jacob Riegel, who delivered with his own right field home run, his third of 2026, to put the Panthers up 4-2.
Oakley put the Wolves down in order in the top of the sixth and was sent back out to try and close the game out in the seventh. A walk and a double put the tying runs in scoring position with no outs, and after a strikeout, the Timberwolves earned the clutch hit with another double to tie the game at 4-4.
Head coach Todd Lillpop called on Josh Tucker (W, 2-1) to keep the game tied with the leading run in scoring position and only one out. Tucker forced a groundout and tallied a strikeout to do just that, sending the Panthers back to the plate with a chance to win the game.
Hagan led off the bottom of the seventh with a single and Lucas Thompson was selected to pinch run for Hagan. Molnar followed with a perfect sacrifice bunt down to move Thompson to second with just one out. After Stockton grounded out and moved Thompson to third, Riegel came up next with an opportunity to be the hero. The junior came through with a walk-off two-run shot, his second homer of the game and fourth of the campaign, to finalize the 6-4 triumph and give Wesleyan a 2-1 series lead.
The second game of the day was another classic at Panther Park. Panthers starting pitcher Noah Cook worked around a walk in the top of the first before Hutson continued his stellar series with a leadoff no-doubt home run over the right field wall, his eighth of the year and third of the series, to give Wesleyan a quick 1-0 advantage.
Each team stayed quiet going into the top of the fourth. Still battling against Cook, the Timberwolves used a double and a home run to plate two runs and take the lead at 2-1.
Northwood added another run in the top of the fifth, but the Panthers had a response in the bottom half. Molnar led off with a single and advanced to second on a throwing error to put a runner in scoring position with no outs. Luke Renfrow followed with a groundout before Davin Yates hit a fielder's choice that Molnar was thrown out at third on. Yates later advanced to second on a wild pitch before Hutson delivered once again with a single to right-center field to pull Wesleyan within one.
Riegel came up next and reached first on an error by the Timberwolves' shortstop and Hutson advanced to third on the play. Each runner later advanced on a wild pitch, allowing Hutson to cross the plate and tie the game at 3-3.
Northwood immediately got those two runs back. After a leadoff single, Cook (L, 1-2) was replaced by Mason Clark. The road team then used two more singles and a sacrifice bunt to drive in two runs and take their lead back at 5-3.
In the bottom of the sixth, Wesleyan took advantage of yet another Northwood error. With two outs, Molnar lifted a ball to the shifted left fielder, who couldn't quite haul it in on a play that allowed Molnar to reach second. Renfrow followed with an RBI single to shrink KWC's deficit to 5-4.
After a quiet seventh for both squads, the Timberwolves added a run in the top of the eighth to take a two-run lead again at 6-4. Wesleyan again pulled within one in the bottom half on a Luke Renfrow solo home run, his third of the season, but the Panthers were later shut down in the bottom of the ninth in the eventual series split.
Dysholm and Riegel combined to pitch the final 2.1 innings for the Panthers after Clark finalized his line at 1.2 innings pitched and just one run allowed. Riegel shined in the top of the ninth with two strikeouts in a shutout frame.
The Panthers next head on their first road trip since their opening series of the year. Wesleyan will travel to Findlay, Ohio, to take on the Oilers from March 21-22. Each day will feature a doubleheader beginning at 12:00 PM and all four games will be streamed live on FloCollege.
Visit kwcpanthers.com/give today to make a gift to Kentucky Wesleyan Athletics! Gifts can be directed to general athletics, our athletic endowment, or any of our 14 NCAA Division II programs.
Stay up to date on all your Panther news by following @KWCPanthers on X and Instagram and by liking the "Kentucky Wesleyan College Athletics" Facebook page. Also, the Panthers Mobile App is available on iTunes and Android featuring real-time news alerts, schedules, exclusive multimedia content, gameday details and more.
