The Pride baseball team took on Kentucky Wesleyan College this Thursday in a non-conference matchup where the Pride would fall by a score of 2-1 in a tightly contested nine-inning battle.

The Basics

• Records: Purdue Northwest (1-2), Kentucky Wesleyan (7-4)
• Location: Owensboro, Kentucky
• Non-conference game.

The Breakdown

• Drew Kosteba (St. John, Ind./Lake Central) provided the lone run for Purdue Northwest with a solo home run to right center in the fifth inning, finishing 2-for-3 with an RBI and a walk.
• Billy Chidsey (Crown Point, Ind./Crown Point) and Jax Kalemba (Chicago, Ill./Andrean) each recorded a hit, while Owen Winters (Kouts, Ind./Kouts) added a single and drew a walk. Brett Bounds (Morris, Ill./Morris Community) chipped in a base hit and stole a base as the Pride totaled six hits on the afternoon.
• Owen Walkowiak (Crown Point, Ind./Andrean) delivered a strong start on the mound, tossing 6.0 innings while allowing just one unearned run on four hits with three strikeouts.
• Joey DalPonte (Homer Glen, Ill./Lockport) took the loss in relief, striking out four over 2.1 innings
• After four scoreless innings, Kentucky Wesleyan broke through in the bottom of the fourth with an unearned run following a double down the left field line and a passed ball to take a 1-0 lead.
• The Pride answered in the top of the fifth as Kosteba launched a solo shot to even the score at 1-1.
• Purdue Northwest threatened throughout the middle innings, putting runners on base in the sixth and seventh, but could not push across another run.
• Both pitching staffs kept the game locked at 1-1 heading into the ninth. In the bottom half, a hit-by-pitch and a double to left field allowed Kentucky Wesleyan to plate the walk-off run and secure the 2-1 victory.

Up Next
The Pride will return to action on February 28, for games two and three of their four game series with Kentucky Wesleyan.