Kansas Wesleyan Baseball secured no less than a share of the 2023 KCAC Baseball Championship on Saturday, sweeping Saint Mary in a doubleheader, topping the Spires 17-1 in seven innings, and 15-2 at Saint Mary's baseball field.
The KCAC title is the first for the Coyotes since the 2011 season.
The Coyotes were dominant in every facet of the game in both games of the doubleheader.
In the opener, the Coyotes took a 2-0 lead with a pair of homers from Kendall Foster (SR/Prosper, Texs) and Haydn Brown (SR/Gardnerville, Nev.).
Wesleyan added two more in the third on RBI doubles by Dustin Sipe (SR/Aztec, N.M.) and Brown.
KWU put it out of reach in the fourth inning with nine runs.
Jarrett Gable (SR/Colleyville, Texas) led off the fourth with a homer. Kevin Esquilin-Cruz (SR/Trujilo Alto, Puerto Rico) doubled and Zach Olson (JR/Red Deer, Alberta) hit a 2-run homer. The Coyotes loaded the bases with singles by Jackson Newman (JR/Bixby, Okla.) and William Dryburgh (SR/St. Joseph, Mo.) and Foster was hit by a pitch. Sipe followed with a 2-run single. Brown then singled and two batters later Gable came up for the second time in the inning and hit a grand slam for the Coyotes.
Wesleyan added four more in the fifth when Sipe reached on an error bringing in courtesy runner Coulson Riggs (FR/Piedmont, Okla.) and two batters later, Zack Beatty (JR/Maple Park, Ill.) clubbed a 3-run homer.
Tyler Triano (SR/Hollister, Calif.) was again outstanding on the hill for the Coyotes, going four innings, allowing only two hits. Spencer Foley (SR/Lancaster, Calif.) pitched two innings and Cesar Rodriguez (JR/Houston, Texas) logged a perfect seventh to end it.
Brown had four hits for the Coyotes, while five others had two each.
Brown just missed a cycle in the second game, not getting a single, walking in his first at bat.
The Coyotes raced out to a 3-0 first inning lead on Foster's homer and Gable's 2-run single.
Saint Mary got on the board in the third but the Coyotes responded immediately.
Esquilin-Cruz led off with a single in the fifth, followed by Olson's single. The runners moved up on a wild pitch and Kansuke Okada (SR/Osaka, Japan) was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Riggs scored an earned run on a wild pitch, and Olson also scored another earned run on another wild pitch. Foster then doubled on a wild infield play, and two batters later Brown homered for three more earned runs to make it 8-2 Coyotes.
The Coyotes blew it open in the sixth with seven runs. Dryburgh led off with a single, Foster walked, a wild pitch brought in a run. Sipe was hit, and Brown followed with a RBI double. Beatty followed with a 2-run single and Gable hit a 2-run homer. Diego fisher capped the scoring with a sacrifice fly.
Jarrett Brannen (JR/Bakersfield, Calif.) picked up the win, improving to 13-0 on the season, allowing two runs on three hits.
Brown was 3 of 3 with four RBI in the game. Gable was one of four Coyotes with two hits and drove in four runs.
The teams will cap the regular season on Sunday with a single game starting at Noon.
The KCAC tournament starts Wednesday in Great Bend.
