Softball earns split with Tabor

HILLSBORO – Kansas Wesleyan and Tabor split Thursday’s doubleheader with a pair of one-run games as the Coyotes picked up a 5-4 win in the opener, and Tabor got a 1-0 win in the nightcap at the Hillsboro Sports Complex.

In the opener Tabor took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first on a homer, but the Coyotes came back as Lauren Blue (SR/Arlington, Texas) homered in the third to tie things up 1-1.

In the fourth, the Coyotes plated three runs, taking advantage of a Tabor error. Brianna McGinnis (JR/Tucson, Ariz.) singled, followed by a single by Carmen Angulo (JR/Long Beach, Calif.). Blue later walked to load the bases with two outs. Jessica Vegely (SR/Mariposa, Calif.) then bounced into a fielder’s choice, but Tabor’s third baseman muffed the throw and the error allowed the first of three runs to score. Kiana Turner (SO/Quapaw, Okla.) followed with a 2-run single that put the Coyotes up 4-1.

Wesleyan added another run in the fifth as Bailey Rivas (FR/West Covina, Calif.) led off the inning with a single, then scored on a single by McGinnis.

Tabor made things interesting in the fifth, scoring three runs to get within a tally at 5-4.

The Coyotes stranded two runners in the sixth and three more in the seventh without adding any insurance runs.

Angulo went the distance in the circle to pick up the win, allowing four runs, three earned, on six hits. Turner and McGinnis had three hits each leading a 13 hit output by the Coyote offense.

The second game was a pitcher’s duel between Angulo and Tabor’s Zoe Brewer.

The lone run scored in the game came on a wild pitch in the fifth inning that gave Tabor the 1-0 victory.

Wesleyan’s best chance of the night to score runs came in the third as KWU put two runners on as Vegely and Turner singled, but could not get a run across.

Tabor had several chances to score as well, but every time, Angulo and the Coyote defense would step up and shut the door on any opportunity for the Bluejays. This included the fourth inning when Tabor got runners at second and third with just one out, but could not score.

Angulo limited Tabor to just three hits in the game, while striking out three. Four different Coyotes accounted for KWU’s four hits in the game.

Wesleyan is back in action on Saturday, hosting Avila in a 2 p.m. start at Salina South High School.