Bethany errors give Wesleyan a sweep of Swedes in home finale
By: David Toelle, KWU Sports Information

First things first, it was cold. With temperatures in the upper 30’s and the wind blowing hard out of the north, it was not a spectator-friendly environment for the final regular season meeting of the year between Bethany and Kansas Wesleyan. The Coyote faithful who withstood the cold, went home with a warm fuzzy feeling as the Coyotes swept Bethany, 6-5 and 1-0, in their home finale on Tuesday night at Bill Burke Park.

Game two finished in dramatic fashion, as Krista Marsicek walked to open the Coyote half of the seventh. Michelle Kalas sacrifice bunted to move Marsicek to second. Tara Dintaman then flew out to the fence in left field, and Marsicek tagged and reached third.

Then it happened, Bethany’s third error of the game proved costly as Emily Heronemus’ throw back into the infield hit Swede short stop Kelli Noonan in the back and careened into the area behind third base allowing Marsicek to score the game winning run from third.

Game two was a pitching duel, as Wesleyan’s Ashley Coker threw a two-hitter, as did Nichelle Coonrod for Bethany. The difference was the defense behind the two pitchers, as Bethany committed three errors compared to one for Wesleyan.

Diana Pereira and Dintaman had the hits for Wesleyan in game two, and Sarah Logan and Darcy Bartz each singled for Bethany.

Coker got the complete game win, and Coonrod took the loss.

Game one was also a one-run affair as Wesleyan held on for the 6-5 win over the Swedes.

Wesleyan (6-24-1, 6-8) put three runs on the board in the bottom of the first as Pereira scored on an error by Dallas Archer following a single by Coker. After a single by Torrie Stone, Gabby White grounded out to second, and then back-to-back wild pitches by Bethany’s Holly Finkbeiner allowed Coker and Stone to score to give the Coyotes the 3-0 lead.

Wesleyan extended their lead to 4-0 as White scored on a single by Dintaman in the third.

Bethany (24-17, 9-7) tied things up with four runs in the next two innings. Sarah Logan reached on an error by Coker to start off the fourth inning and was the first to score on a single by Ashley Dunham. Erica Stein later singled home Angie Heinen and Darcy Bartz scored on a double steal. Bethany added a single run in the fifth as Heinen scored on a Bartz single after doubling to left.

Wesleyan scored the go-ahead runs in the bottom of the fifth. White led off the inning with a walk, and Kalas reached on an error by Heinen. After Marsicek grounded out to first and a strike out by Amanda Mueller, Dintaman singled scoring White, and Kalas came around to score as Heronemus misplayed the ball in left.

Bethany added another run in the sixth as Logan singled home Archer.

Bethany looked like they were in business to tie things up in the seventh as Bartz doubled, but could not get a run across as Bartz was tagged out trying to go to third on a fielders’ choice by Hannah Bullock. Stein grounded out to second as the Coyotes held on for the win.

Gabby White went the distance for the Coyotes, giving up five runs on nine hits and walking two. Holly Finkbeiner took the loss for Bethany, also going the distance, giving up six runs on 11 hits, while walking and striking out two.

Torrie Stone had three hits in game one, while Coker had two and Dintaman had two hits and drove in two runs for the Coyotes.

Wesleyan finishes the conference regular season on Thursday at Sterling, before playing a final non-conference set at Southern Nazarene on Monday in preparation for the KCAC Post-Season Tournament held this year in Leavenworth.

-- KWU SI --