Softball rallies in second game to split home opener with Cottey

Kansas Wesleyan Softball opened the home portion of its schedule on Tuesday afternoon, hosting the Cottey College Comets at Salina South High School. Cottey would win the first game 6-4, but the Coyotes rallied in the second came to come away with a 9-3 win.

The Coyotes grabbed a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first of the opening game when Josie Buhr was hit by a pitch to lead off and then scored on Sydnee Fordham's double.

Cottey tied it up in the second, and it remained 1-1 until the bottom of the fourth.

Eliza Flores led off with a walk and Hailey Summers followed with a single. Two batters later, Jocelyn Alcala doubled bringing in both runs to make it 3-1 Coyotes.

The Coyotes added another run in the fifth on Trenity Miller's RBI double that scored Fordham.

Cottey got four runs in the top of the sixth, on a pair of homers and a RBI single, that gave the Comets a 5-4 lead. Another homer for the visitors in the seventh made it 6-4.

Fordham had two of KWU's six hits in the game. Caitlyn Collier took the loss in relief for the Coyotes allowing five runs, four earned, on seven hits. Miranda Fogal went five innings, allowing one earned run on two hits with eight strikeouts, but took the no decision.

Wesleyan bounced back in the second game winning 9-3.

Things didn't start exceptionally well for the Coyotes, who gave up three runs in the first inning, but got two back in the bottom of the frame.

Miller singled and Flores doubled, and a wild pitch allowed Miller to score, and then an RBI single by Summers plated a run as well.

The Coyotes took the lead in the second as Grace Pierce led off with a single followed by walks to Buhr and Fordham. Miller followed with a 2-run single and Summers drove in a run with an RBI single that pushed the Coyotes out to a 5-3 lead.

Buhr drove in a run with a ground out in the third making it 6-3 Coyotes.

Flores clubbed a 2-run homer in the bottom of the sixth to extend Wesleyan's lead out to 8-3 and Krista Yackeyonny added an RBI single to make it 9-3.

Jewell Henry got the win for the Coyotes in the circle, going four innings, allowing three runs, only one earned on four hits, while Halley Asbury picked up the save going three innings, allowing only two hits.

The Coyotes are idle for a week, returning home to face Hastings College next Tuesday at 2 p.m. at Salina South High School.