Coyotes use pair of walk-offs to sweep Ottawa
By: David Toelle, KWU Sports Information

Kade McAllister scores the game winning run in the first game of KWU's sweep of Ottawa on Saturday

Dustin Romero singled home the winning runs in game one and Matt Garretson followed suit in game two with a RBI single in the bottom of the seventh as Kansas Wesleyan swept Ottawa 9-8 and 5-4 on Saturday at Dean Evans Stadium.

With extremely windy conditions prevailing, it felt like today’s doubleheader could have been a homerun derby, but only two bombs were hit all day.

After Ottawa went quietly in the first of game one, the Wesleyan offense exploded for seven runs in the first frame. Romero led off with a single and would score on a double by Garretson. Stephen Cilladi would follow with a single, scoring Garretson. Carlos Sanchez then doubled off the wall in right-center, followed by a single by Andrew Masojc scoring Cilladi. Guy McGriff would then double, scoring Sanchez.

After a Chad Petersen walk, Ottawa turned to Tyler Lynnes to pitch in place of starter Jake Logan. Paul Bridenbaugh would double scoring two, and Romero would drive home Petersen with a sacrifice before the Coyotes would end the inning on a pop out.

Ottawa answered with single runs in the second and third innings. In the second, Brian Dobyns dropped a routine fly to left allowing Tony Hurla to reach third, and would score on a ground out by Brandon Gilliland. Blake Burks would single to lead off the Ottawa third, and would score on a single by Neil Moore.

The Coyotes could not keep the offensive power going that they enjoyed in the first inning, as Wesleyan only managed three hits until the bottom of the seventh. Meanwhile, Ottawa but three on the board in the fourth and the sixth innings as part of eight unanswered runs to take a 8-7 lead after six innings.

Five hits in the fourth for the Braves led to three runs, while an error and a passed ball led to Ottawa’s runs in the sixth. Moore would score on the passed ball after singling following an error to start the inning. Hurla would then double scoring a pair before Gilliland stuck out to end the inning.

McGriff led off the Wesleyan seventh with a single, and would score the tying run later in the inning. Eric Cordell then came on in relief of Lynnes for Ottawa. A wild pitch moved up the Wesleyan runners 90 feet before pinch hitter Ronny Romo was intentionally walked to load the bases for Romero. Romero singled to left scoring McGriff and pinch runner Kade McAllister giving the Coyotes the 9-8 win in game one.

Cordell took the loss for the Braves facing two batters in the seventh. Shaun Sumter got the win for Wesleyan pitching three innings in relief of starter Casey Barnes, giving up three runs on three hits while striking out five and walking one. Romero, Garretson, Sanchez and McGriff all had two hits each while Romero had three RBIs in game one.

Ottawa used a leadoff homerun in the first and the second innings to take a 2-0 lead in game two. Burks took a 1-0 pitch over the wall in left in the first, and Ryan Zink followed suit in the second on a 2-2 pitch.

It took until the fourth inning for Wesleyan’s offense to get on track again. Sanchez led off the frame with a single and would advance to third when McGriff grounded into a double play. Petersen would single home Sanchez and Romo would reach on an error, before Paul Bridenbaugh would single, scoring Petersen. Romero would then single scoring Romo and Bridenbaugh would score on the throw when left fielder Travis Persinger would misplay the ball. Romero would try to score but was thrown out at the plate.

Ottawa (7-24, 7-13) knotted things back up at 4-all in the fifth with a pair of runs. Moore would score on a single by Brandon Myers after walking and Zink would single home Myers off Wesleyan reliever Greg Byron before Hurla would fly out to end the inning.

Bridenbaugh would lead off the Wesleyan (21-23, 12-8) seventh with a walk, and Brandon Cole would pinch run for him, reaching second on a Romero ground out. Matt Garretson would then single to deep left and Cole would score the game winning run from second giving the Coyotes their second walk-off win of the day 5-4.

Greg Byron got the win for the Coyotes, pitching two and third innings of relief, giving up three hits and striking out two. Romero and Garretson each added two more hits, while four Coyotes each had one RBI in the night cap.

Eric Cordell took the loss for Ottawa, going the distance, six and a third innings of work, giving up five runs on eight hits, only two earned, while striking out seven.

The Coyotes are back in action on Wednesday as they will face Sterling at 4:00 at Matson Field in Salina.

-- KWU SI --