Bethany, KWU
split doubleheader
by Paul Mogenson, The Salina Journal
The Salina Journal:  Saturday, April 11, 1998-  Page  C3
Bethany Baseball '98
    LINDSBORG- Bethany's Clay Witt flirted with a no-hitter in one game and Kansas Wesleyan exploded for a 10-run inning in the second as the archrivals split a Kansas Conference baseball twinbill Friday in contrasting styles.    Originally scheduled for Wednesday in Salina, rain and cold forced a switch in the schedule.  The return meeting will be April 25 in Salina.
    The Swedes grabbed the first game 3-1 as Witt fired a three-hitter at the Coyotes.  Wesleyan sent 15 men to the plate in the third inning of the nightcap, scoring 10 times en route to a 10-1 triumph.
    Wesleyan remained at .500 for the conference season at 3-3, 7-16 overall.  Bethany is 1-3 and 11-14.
    Despite both teams getting a victory, neither Bethany's Mike Waldie nor KW's Tim Bellew were happy about his team's overall performance.
    "One bad inning for the whole day," Waldie muttered afterward.  "... there are 16 conference games left, our concentration's on Ottawa (a doubleheader today).
    "It's a shame to have a split with one bad inning, but we played bad the whole game.  I'm shocked to see our team have that kind of an inning at this point of the season.
    "But you have to give their pitcher (Chad Holmes, 2-2) some credit," Waldie said.
    On the other side, Bellew's mind was on the first game.
    "The whole second game, all I could think about was the first game," he said.
    "They've got a good club, but they're struggling a bit right now," Bellew said.  "We're struggling a bit ourselves.  I mean, both games moved along quickly and you'd think they were really well played, but they were very ugly."
    Ugly or not, Witt was the story in game one.  The 6-foot-2 senior from Hooker, Okla., had a no-hitter going into the sixth inning only to have Jackie McBroom break it up with a solid liner to left after one was out.
    KW touched Witt for a run in the seventh when Joe Heckathorn scored as Johnny Hull reached on a fielder's choice and then loaded the bases with two out.
    Jeremy Cantrell got the nod out of the bullpen and got McBroom to line out to short to get the save.
    Bethany got off early in the first game when Bobby Richardson singled in Mike Jackson.  The actual winning run came in the second when Darren Kaustinen singled in Pat Patterson.
    The Swedes scored an insurance run in the sixth on Jackson's single, scoring Brad Schrader.
    Mike Taylor got things rolling for the Coyotes in their half of the third of game two, ripping a one-out, two run single to left.
    Despite getting a second out, the wheels were coming off the Bethany wagon as freshman pitcher Clint Strassburg walked a pair, hit a batter, had two errors committed behind him and gave up a two run single to Greg Lamkin before Waldie went to Dan Regan.
    Regan fared no better as he ended up allowing the last three KW runs in the frame.
    While Bethany's pitchers were having trouble, Chad Holmes was coasting along, throwing a four-hitter of his own.
    "Chad wasn't really that sharp today," Bellew said, "but when he's sharp, he's something.  He's the best 2-2 pitcher in the conference."
    Holmes gave up only an unearned run in the bottom of the third as he fanned six and allowed only two walks.
    Kansas Wesleyan is at Sterling for a KCAC doubleheader today.
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