Joplin, Mo. – The Friends University Falcons stayed alive with an 8-1 victory over the McPherson College Bulldogs but were eliminated with a 16-6 loss to the second-seeded Kansas Wesleyan University Coyotes later today (May 3) in the KCAC Tournament at Joe Becker Stadium in Joplin, Mo.
The Falcons came out firing in their first game against the Bulldogs when Bernie Socarras doubled and scored on an RBI single by Zeke Henson in the first inning.
It stayed 1-0 until Niquan Benjamin scored on a groundout by Carlos Rodriguez and Isaias Urriola homered for the second straight day, launching a three-run blast to extend the Falcon lead to 5-0 in the fifth.
Zeke Henson then hit a sacrifice fly in the sixth and the Falcons were never threatened from that point.
Matthew Benton turned in his best start of the season, going a season-high seven innings with just one run allowed and six strikeouts in a win or go home game for the Falcons. Vincent Vigil then finished out the game with a pair of scoreless innings, including stranding the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth to preserve the seven-run margin.
Henson, the Falcons' leading home run hitter this season (13) and the modern-era career leader (30) on record, helped the Falcons keep their season alive with three hits. Benjamin finished 2-of-5 with two runs scored.
The Bulldogs got two hits apiece from Jared Kramp, Colin Evers and Luke Nordean.
That win advanced the Falcons to another matchup against the Coyotes, but KWU again came out on top.
The Coyotes sent nine hitters to the plate and scored six runs before the Falcons recorded an out in the bottom of the first. Joe Finder had the big blow with a two-run double and Garrett Garfield and Fernando Ruvalcaba each had RBI singles in the inning.
Friends would claw back and got consecutive RBI groundouts from Isaias Urriola and Tyler Godfrey in the fourth before Carlos Rodriguez unloaded a three-run homer in the fifth to trim the deficit to just two runs.
But the Coyotes had an immediate answer, replicating the first inning in the bottom of the fifth as the first five hitters reached base and featured a two-run single by Carter Allen during another six-run frame that put the game out of reach.
Henson had two more hits for the Falcons, with Rodriguez and Nijai Armbrister also recording a pair of hits.
Allen drove in three runs for the Coyotes (38-13), while Garfield, Ruvalcaba and Blake Dale each had three hits for KWU, who advances to the tournament title game tomorrow at 2:15 pm against either top-seeded Oklahoma Wesleyan University or fifth-seeded Tabor College.
Riley Gwin relieved starter Shaw Lee and pitched 3.1 shutout innings with a pair of strikeouts to be credited with the win.
Keagan Alejo pitched the final four innings for Friends, striking out four batters with two earned runs allowed.
The Falcons wrap up their 2025 season at 29-23 overall and were 20-16 in the KCAC.
