For the second-consecutive day, Kansas Wesleyan used a lopsided third inning to beat Ottawa University, this time totaling eight runs to douse a seven-run deficit in the bottom of the third, claiming a 9-7 win Saturday at Dean Evans Stadium.
The Coyotes (14-10, 7-4 KCAC) claimed their second Kansas Conference series in three weekend tries, although Ottawa (13-9, 7-4) pulled even with KWU in the KCAC baseball standings by salvaging the third game, 11-3.
Holland Boan had the Braves in front in the first inning with a three-run home run to right field, and in the third, Ottawa used a two-run double and a two-run homer to put up four runs to build a 7-0 lead. Kansas Wesleyan quickly erased the lead, though, stringing together five hits, including an infield single for Trey Lopez (SR/Burlington, Wash.) and Dalton Bishop (JR/Colorado Springs, Colo.)’s two-run double to make it 7-4.
Four more runs followed, including a second hit for Lopez, a double down the left-field line that brought in Spencer Keane (JR/Palm Springs, Calif.) to put the Coyotes in front 8-7. Lopez and Keane connected again in the fifth, adding insurance when Lopez singled in Keane to make it 9-7, enough for Jansen Lublin (FR/San Diego, Calif.), who held together a six-inning start to improve to 4-0.
Branden Voytko (JR/El Paso, Texas) came on in the ninth, striking out the side for his fifth save of the season, backing up a quality relief effort for Ethan Wilson (JR/Thackerville, Okla.), who went two innings with a pair of strikeouts and one hit. Lopez ended the game 4-for-5 with three RBIs, handing Ottawa’s Austin Skelhorn the loss as pitcher of record when the Coyotes grabbed the lead in the third.
Ottawa managed a Saturday split by scoring twice in the first and second and six times in the third, adding another run in the fourth to beat the Coyotes 11-3. Five Coyotes had hits in the game, including Lopez and Josh Sandoval (SR/Glendale, Ariz.), who drove in a run each.
Zach Spradlin drove in three for the Braves, one of four with multiple RBIs, a group that also had Matthew Aguilar, who homered to open the third for the Braves.
Kansas Wesleyan resumes its KCAC schedule Tuesday, at Dean Evans Stadium, against Sterling College at 4 p.m.