GAMBIER, Ohio – Kenyon College opened North Coast Athletic Conference play with a doubleheader sweep against Hiram College on Sunday in cold and windy conditions at McCloskey Field. The games, which were moved from Hiram to Gambier due to inclement weather, had the Lords as the away team. Kenyon won the opener 15-3 before earning a 7-6 win in the second game as its defense came up with some big plays in the bottom of the ninth.
 
GAME ONE
 
After spotting the first run of the game to the Terriers, the Lords started their scoring in the top of the second.
 
Three of the first four batters reached base for Kenyon in the second before Max Warren singled to left field plating Mikey Arman. With the score tied at 1-1, Jason Clebowicz sent a shot to center which brought home Phillip Nam and Tyler Roldan.
 
Hiram added a run in the bottom of the second to bring the count to 3-2 before the Lords tacked on two more in the third. Matt von Roemer scored from third after the Terriers turned a double play and later Alec Manning scored on an error by Hiram's third baseman.
 
Starting in the fourth frame, Kenyon was aided by a couple mistakes from the Terriers defense, and defensively, relief pitcher Connor Farrell helped shut down Hiram.
 
In the home half of the inning, the Lords scored three runs on one sequence after another error from Hiram's third baseman. Additionally, Roldan had an RBI groundout plating Nam.
 
Farrell, who was entered an inning before, then induced a pair of groundouts and struck out a batter to end the fourth. Kenyon led 9-3 at that point.
 
In the final three innings, Farrell and Luke Calcei were solid on the mound as just three Terriers made it on base.
 
During that time, Kenyon added six more runs to see its lead go to 15-3. Highlighting the final few innings were Manning's RBI single in the sixth, and two-run hits from von Roemer and John Nahra in the seventh. In all, the Lords had five players record multiple hits led by Arman's three.
 
Farrell earned his third win of the year tossing 3.1 innings, allowing just two hits and striking out a pair.
 
GAME TWO
 
Kenyon started the game on fire as they got out to a 7-0 lead through three innings.
 
In the first frame, Arman singled to right field scoring Jono Chafe and later, Nam hit a two-run double to center field while Nahra tripled down the right-field line plating Nam.
 
Then in the third, the Lords offense flexed their muscle with a pair of homers. Nam pushed Kenyon's lead to 6-0 as he smoked a two-run shot to left center. The next plate appearance saw Manning hit a solo homer in the same area moving the Lords' lead to 7-0.
 
But after that, Kenyon took a steep drop offensively as it never found another run the rest of the game. In fact, the Lords got just one more hit the rest of the way on a Chafe double in the fourth.
 
During that time, Hiram clawed back.
 
Brandon Chesmar got the home team's first run on the board in the fourth as he hit a two-out single up the middle scoring Phil Ward.
 
Hiram added a run in the sixth before plating two more in the seventh. Down 7-2, Brandon Gros scored after a passed ball and Ward brought in Bryan Engdahl on a fielder's choice.
 
The Terriers pulled the game to within one in the eighth as Austin DeGregory hit a sacrifice fly and Christian Owens had an RBI single.
 
Trailing 7-6 in the bottom of the ninth, Hiram got off on the right foot as Bryan Fryda singled up the middle to start the inning. But after that, the Lords' defense turned up the pressure.
 
Warren reentered at the catcher position during the frame and gunned down Fryda at second on a failed hit-and-run for the first out. In the next at-bat, Ward sent a deep shot to left center and a hustling Clebowicz was able to run down the ball for the second out. Calcei then closed the game with a strikeout which helped him earn his team-leading third save of the year.
 
Sam Gillespie (6-0) got the win on the mound for Kenyon as he tossed 6.1 innings, scattered eight hits, allowed two earned runs and fanned eight. Nam led the offense going 2-for-4 with four RBI.
 
Next up for Kenyon is a trip to Capital University April 6 for a 4 p.m. non-conference game.