Owensboro, Ky. – The Kentucky Wesleyan baseball team split the final two games of their series vs. Thomas More on Sunday afternoon, ultimately taking the four-game set 3-1.
Game 1 was all Panthers (17-17, 10-8 G-MAC) for the first six innings. Liam Hutson got the offense started with a solo home run, his third of year. Thomas More got that run right back with a home run of their own in the top of the second, but Wesleyan really broke the game open in the bottom half.
Cade Gudalis singled, Logan Molnar doubled to drive in Gudalis, and Hutson followed with his second home run of the game and fourth of the season to make the score 4-1. Jase Mizell then knocked a single to force the Saints starter out of the game, but the offensive success didn't stop there. Just a couple batters later, Reece Davis launched his fourth home run of the season to increase the Panthers advantage to 6-1. Wesleyan added three more runs in the inning, highlighted by a Tate VanHooser double, to head into the third with a 9-1 lead.
The Saints tacked on three runs in the top of the third, but Wesleyan again had a strong response in the bottom half. Mizell led off with a double before Davis joined Hutson with two home runs in the game, hitting his fifth of the season over the center field wall to make the score 11-4.
Thomas More added two more runs in the fifth, just refusing to lay down even with their pitching woes. The Panthers wouldn't stop hitting either, grabbing two more runs in the bottom half of the fifth on a Cade Gudalis 2-RBI single down the right field line to extend their lead back to seven runs at 13-6.
Mizell kept the party going in the sixth, launching his third home run of the 2025 campaign, this time a two-run shot that also served as his fourth hit of the day to get Wesleyan to 15 runs for the second time in the series.
The Saints made a late run, pouring in six runs in the top of the seventh, but the Panthers managed to get the job done in the 15-12 triumph.
Believe it or not, Game 2 had even more offense than Game 1. The Saints got the scoring started this time with a solo home run in the first inning, but Wesleyan didn't wait long to respond. In the bottom half, Reece Davis lifted his third home run of the day and sixth of the season to put the Panthers on top 3-1. Shortly after, Colson Perry joined the onslaught with his third big fly of the campaign, this one a two-run home run to increase the lead to 5-1.
Thomas More hit right back, driving in four runs in the top of the second to tie the game at 5-5. Wesleyan scored the next four runs of the game over the proceeding two innings, capped off by RBI doubles from Mizell and Logan Molnar to take a 9-5 advantage.
Wesleyan led by as much as seven in this game, with Davis launching yet another home run, his fourth of the doubleheader and seventh of the year, to give the Panthers a 14-7 lead in the seventh inning.
The game looked to be all but over, even after the Saints added two runs in the eighth. Unfortunately, Thomas More kept swinging the bats and ended up tying the game with a five-run ninth inning to force extras. With the ghost runner rule in effect, the Saints managed to get their free runner home and the Panthers couldn't match, ultimately falling 15-14.
Wesleyan next heads to Cedarville, Ohio, for a Friday/Saturday series against the Yellow Jackets beginning with a doubleheader on Friday at 1:00 PM. All games will be streamed live on the Great Midwest Digital Network.
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