[Softball] (RV) Softball Falcons take down Coyotes twice on the road

Salina, Kan. – The (RV) Friends University Falcons stayed in the hunt for a KCAC regular season championship by sweeping the Kansas Wesleyan University Coyotes today (Apr. 22) in Salina, Kan. The Falcons bested the Coyotes 5-3 in extra innings in the first game before winning the nightcap 6-4.

The victories keep the Falcons in firm control of the second spot in the KCAC, one game behind No. 16-ranked Ottawa University with an 18-4 league record.

The Falcons took a 2-0 lead in the opening game on an RBI single by Aleigha Gale (JR/Winfield, Kan. ) in the fourth inning and then Priscilla Mora (SO/Beaumont, Calif. )'s eighth homer of the season in the next frame.

It remained a two-run edge until a seemingly innocuous start to the seventh inning turned into a rally for the Coyotes. With two outs and no one on, an infield single by Mia Hernandez and a walk to Tiffani Alaniz led to a game-tying, two-run double from Bailey Rivas that sent the game to extra innings.

Starting pitchers Laila Spracklen (SR/San Diego, Calif. ) and Miranda Fogal then locked in, each stranding a runner at third during the next two frames to extend action into the 10th inning.

The Falcons then finally broke through when Alex Vick (FR/San Antonio, Texas) laced a one-out, two-run double down the left field line before Jayden Estabrook (SO/Tracy, Calif. ) hit a ground-rule double to score Giselle Gutierrez for a 5-2 lead.

KWU got a run in the bottom of the 10th on an RBI single by Sydnee Fordham, but Spracklen shut things down by getting a pop up to Estabrook at second to tie for the KCAC lead with her 16th victory of the season.

Spracklen and Fogal had quite the dual, with each lasting the full 10 innings in the circle.  Spracklen, the Falcons' modern-era career strikeout leader, fanned a career-high tying 14 batters while walking just one and allowing two earned runs.

Fogal struck out 10 and was charged with three earned runs, but had control issues and walked nine batters.

Gale had two hits in the first game victory for the Falcons, while Fallyn Marshall (JR/Syracuse, Utah) drew four walks from the leadoff spot.

The second game saw early fireworks as an RBI double by Spracklen in the first was answered by a two-run homer from Destiny Hackney in the bottom of the second.

But Becca Dunn (SO/Jurupa Valley, Calif. ) responded with a three-run blast in the third to put the Falcons in front to stay.

Mora then delivered an RBI double in the fifth followed by a sacrifice fly from Dunn that chased home Zoey Latessa (FR/Lawrence, Kan.) for a 6-2 lead.

The Coyotes made some noise with RBI singles from Jenna Soule in the fifth and then Fordham in the sixth, but Isabelle Schwien (JR/Denver, Colo. ) retired the next two hitters to leave the tying run in scoring position and preserve the Falcon lead.

Then with the tying run at the plate in the bottom of the seventh, Vick sat down the final two batters to earn her first career save.  

Schwien allowed three earned runs in six innings to improve to 13-3 on the season.

Spracklen went 2-of-2 with two runs scored in the nightcap victory, with Dunn driving in four runs for the Falcons (30-10, 18-4 KCAC).

Fordham went 2-of-3 with an RBI and run scored for the Coyotes, who fall to 18-23 overall and 13-11 in the KCAC.

Weather permitting, the Falcons will host Avila University in the regular season finale series Wednesday afternoon (Apr. 25) starting at 3 pm at Two Rivers Youth Complex.