The No. 8 seed Kentucky Wesleyan College baseball team held off elimination for the second straight game on Saturday, defeating the No. 7 seed St. Joseph’s College 4-1 during day three of the NCAA Midwest Regional. The Panthers will face No. 6 seed Wayne State at 11 am CT on Sunday in another elimination game.
The Panthers scored two runs in the top of the first and that’s all it took in the low scoring affair. Cody Bridges led off the game with a single up the middle, and scored on a single from Adam Brown. Andrew Kirkland knocked a double to left field to bring home Brown.
Two doubles in the top of the second plated one run for the Pumas to cut Kentucky Wesleyan’s lead to one run.
That lead would hold constant over the next three scoreless innings.
Kirkland put a spark in the Panther offense in the bottom of the sixth, singling with two outs. Jacob Snodgrass ripped a double to left field, allowing Kirkland to score from first.
Kentucky Wesleyan plated its final run in the bottom of the eighth with Joe Burke tabbing a RBI single to center field.
Zach Burton picked up his fifth win of the season, pitching 7.0 innings and allowing one runs off of 10 hits while striking out four. Alex Franzen pitched the final two innings, holding the Pumas to one hit in his ninth win of the season.
Kirkland finished a perfect three-for- three at the plate with one run scored and one driven in. Bridges, Snodgrass and Burke each tabbed two hits while Brown recorded one.
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Liz Wacienga
Director of Athletic Communications