FORT PIERCE, Fla. – The Kenyon College baseball team carried over momentum and hot bats from a 13-7 Saturday win over Penn State Behrend into their Sunday doubleheader against Albright College and put 22 more runs on the board.
The Lords took both games of the doubleheader – 9-2 and 13-4 – to improve to 5-4 overall.
Strong hitting and masterful pitching set the tone in the first game. Serving as the visiting team for the first game, the Lords wasted no time getting on the scoreboard. Malcolm Gaynor singled on the first pitch of the game and advanced on a wild pitch before Nate Rosen walked. Andrew Rabinowitz came up and cleared the bases with a double to left center, making it 2-0 Kenyon early on. Edwin Groff added his own walk into the mix to bring up Will Sturgeon. Sturgeon grounded one to the third baseman, who stepped on the base, forcing Rabinowitz out. The throw to first base proved to be off target, scoring Groff and putting Sturgeon on third base. Tripper Capps stepped up and sent one over the fence, capping off the five-run inning for the Lords.
On the mound for Kenyon, Alex Gow had a stellar day. Gow struck out seven in his five innings of work, allowing only two hits.
In the top of the fourth, Gaynor led off with another single before Rosen walked. Gow helped himself out on the mound, sending one over the left field wall for a three-run home run and giving Kenyon an 8-0 lead.
The Lords added another run in the top of the fifth on Gaynor’s third single of the game to score Alexander Hoskins from second.
The Lions were held scoreless by Kenyon pitching until the bottom of the sixth. Relieving Gow, Joel Biery entered the game from the bullpen. Biery walked the bases loaded, forcing another move to the pen. With one out and the bases loaded, Jackson Yelland walked in the first batter he faced. Yelland benefited from a ground ball, but Albright pushed across its second run.
In the Lions’ final at bat, Yelland worked around a pair of singles to strike out the side, sealing the 9-2 win for the Lords.
In the nightcap, the Lions led off and worked two base hits and two walks into four runs before Kenyon starting pitcher Groff could get out of the inning.
In the home half of the second, the Lords cut the Albright lead in half after Sturgeon reached on an error and stole second. Capps singled before Hoskins came up a few batters later to score Sturgeon from third. After stepping on the base from Gaynor’s ground ball, the second baseman’s throw went to the fence to score Capps.
The Lords took advantage of another error as Rabinowitz brought in Gow. A pair of ground outs moved Rabinowitz to third and scored him to tie the game at four.
Kenyon continued to hit the ball well and move runners up. Gaynor doubled in Hoskins in the fourth before scoring on a stolen base and overthrow. Rabinowitz tacked on another run, singling Rosen from second. A Capps triple down the right field line cleared the bases and put the Lords up 9-4.
Back-to-back hits by Rosen and Gow in the bottom of the fifth brought in two more runs, making the score 11-4. Luke Meister registered his lone hit of the ball game to score Gow and push the lead to 12-4.
In the sixth, J.J. Conway hit a sacrifice fly to left to score Gaynor and shore up the 13-4 win for the Lords.
