OWENSBORO, Ky. – The Kentucky Wesleyan baseball team (15-15, 5-7 G-MAC) swept their Sunday doubleheader to claim the series against Tiffin.
The Panthers offense had one of their best days of the season in game one. After a scoreless first by starter Cole Peaslee (W, 5.0 IP, 2 ER, 6 SO), Liam Hutson began the party with a sole home run on the second pitch of the bottom of the first, his ninth of the campaign.
Jacob Riegel came up next and hit a triple to right-center and Baron Ratliff followed with a walk to put two on with still nobody out. Rhett Dysholm came through with a single to left field to plate Riegel. Later, after Dysholm stole second, Colson Perry delivered with a two-RBI single to left-center to score both baserunners and increase Wesleyan's lead to 4-0.
The Panthers weren't done yet. Logan Molnar singled to set up Davin Yates with two on, and the latter came through with a single through the left side to drive in Perry. Finally, after a pitching change by the Dragons, a balk allowed Molnar to come home and gave Wesleyan an early 6-0 advantage.
After Tiffin got one back in the top of the second, the Panthers offense went right back to work in the bottom half. Ratliff walked again and Dysholm reached on a fielder's choice before Ellis Hurt launched a home run over the center field wall, his second of 2026, to extend KWC's lead to 8-1.
The Dragons again got one back in the top of the third, but the Panthers immediately matched them in the bottom half on a Davin Yates solo home run, his first of the season, to make the score 9-2.
Wesleyan later added four more runs in the fourth. Ellis Hurt tallied an RBI single and Tucker Hagan ripped a bases-clearing double to drive in three to cap off the frame.
Thanks largely to walks and wild pitches, KWC put up an additional run in the fifth and two runs in the sixth in their 16-4 victory.
Kaysen Roberts (0.2 IP, 2 SO) and Weston Miller (1.0 IP, 2 SO) each registered scoreless frames in the 16-4 triumph.
Game two was a much more competitive game in front of the Wesleyan faithful. After a scoreless opening inning by Noah Cook (W, 5.0 IP, 5 ER, 3 SO), the Panthers offense continued their momentum from the prior game. Riegel walked and Dysholm singled to put two on for Hurt, who came through with a single down the right field line to score Riegel. Hagan followed with an RBI single of his own to plate Dysholm, putting KWC up 2-0 early.
Both teams traded runs in the second frame. Hutson worked a walk and Riegel tallied his second triple of the day to allow Hutson to cross the plate, putting Wesleyan back up two at 3-1.
KWC added another run in the third, using singles from Dysholm and Hurt and an RBI fielder's choice from Hagan to increase their advantage to 4-1.
The Dragons had their best inning of the day in the top of the fourth, plating three runs to tie the game at four apiece. Wesleyan's offense just kept rolling in the bottom half, taking advantage of several walks and a single before Hurt logged his own RBI fielder's choice to put the home team back up at 5-4.
Tiffin again tied the game at five with a run in the top of the fifth before the Panthers again took the lead right back in the bottom half. Hagan and Molnar both singled and advanced on a wild pitch to set up Hutson, who came up clutch with a double to score both baserunners and make the score 7-5 in favor of KWC.
Josh Tucker came on in relief of Cook and had a marvelous day, striking out six in 3.1 scoreless innings. In the top of the ninth, Tiffin loaded the bases on Tucker before head coach Todd Lillpop called on closer David Castleberry for the final two outs. Castleberry (S, 4) met the moment with back-to-back strikeouts to finalize the 7-5 triumph.
The Panthers are back in action Friday, April 3rd, in a doubleheader versus Cedarville. Play will begin at 12:00 PM at Panther Park and both 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.
