FLORENCE, Ky. – The Kentucky Wesleyan baseball team (23-19, 13-11 G-MAC) earned a rivalry series win over Thomas More with their doubleheader sweep on Sunday.
The Panthers opened Game 1 with five runs over their first three turns at the plate. Ellis Hurt had an RBI single in the first inning, Liam Hutson had a two-RBI double in the second, and both Elijah Stockton and Hutson recorded RBI singles in the third.
The Saints (15-23, 8-16 G-MAC) responded with three runs in the bottom of the third to pull within two at 5-3. Later, in the top of the fifth, Wesleyan scratched an additional run across the plate after Colson Perry doubled, Logan Molnar singled, and Tucker Hagan ripped an RBI single to drive in Perry.
Wesleyan added another run in the top of the sixth. Baron Ratliff walked, Rhett Dysholm singled, and Ellis Hurt reached on a fielder's choice to put two on with one out. Perry came to the plate next and delivered with a single to plate Dysholm and stretch Wesleyan's advantage to 7-3.
TMU scored a run in the bottom of the sixth to shrink their deficit to three, but KWC had the perfect response with three runs in the top of the seventh to effectively put the game away. After Stockton walked to lead off the frame, Hutson hit his team-leading 11th home run to make the score 9-4 before Hurt later tallied another RBI to put Wesleyan up six at 10-4.
Hutson totaled three hits and five RBIs in the victory, including that home run and a double. Each of Hurt, Dysholm, Perry, and Molnar logged multi-hit efforts, with the former racking up three as well. The offense showed up behind Cole Peaslee's solid start (W, 5.2 IP, 4 ER, 7 SO) and David Castleberry's stellar relief appearance (S, 1.1 IP, 2 SO).
Game 2 was all Panthers in Florence. The Panthers scored four runs in the first, highlighted by Jacob Riegel's two-run home run, and would go on to add four more runs in the third, three in the fourth, and three in the sixth in their eventual 14-2 triumph.
Riegel also hit a second home run in the sixth, a three-run shot to get Wesleyan to their 14-run mark and increase his home run total to six this season. Stockton had his own three-run home run in the third inning, his first of the 2026 campaign.
On top of Riegel's three hits, Tucker Hagan also had three hits and both Hutson and Stockton added two. Starter Noah Cook shined with six strikeouts and just two earned runs in a complete game seven-inning performance.
Wesleyan next returns to Panther Park for the final home series of the season against Ohio Dominican this upcoming weekend. The two teams will battle in a doubleheader on both Saturday and Sunday, with the former being Senior Day. All four games will be streamed live on FloCollege.
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