FORT PIERCE, Fla. - The Kenyon College baseball team waited until the last minute Friday afternoon to secure its second win of the season. In a game full of groundouts and scoreless innings, the Lords rallied past the Monmouth College Scots to claim a 4-3 victory with a thunderous ninth-inning comeback.

Trailing 2-0 late in the game, the Lords broke their dry spell in the top of the eighth inning when sophomore Jake Berry secured Kenyon's first run of the game. He led off the inning with a single and later came around to score on a Max Warren ground out. Monmouth, however, also snagged a run in the eighth, pushing the score to 3-1.

Facing a pressure cooker of a ninth inning, Kenyon found a spark. With one out, Phillip Nam and Alec Manning got on base with back-to-back singles. A double from Gaige Howard sent Manning to third and pushed Nam home, shrinking Monmouth's lead to just one run.

Monmouth (3-5) starting pitcher Tyler McDonald was then replaced by Jake Starkey, but the reliever's fresh arm did nothing to slow the Lords. A wild pitch advanced Howard to third and plated Manning, tying the game. One more single from Ross Scheinberg allowed Manning to score and gave the Lords a 4-3 lead.

In the bottom of the ninth, closer Luke Calcei and his Kenyon defense sealed the comeback, ending the Scots' last-ditch effort with three flyouts and two men left on base.

The save was Calcei's second in the Lords' last two games. Reliever Connor Farrell earned the win after throwing the seventh and eighth innings. In that time, he allowed one unearned run on two hits.

Both starting pitchers turned in quality performances. McDonald, a sophomore, struck out six Lords and induced 13 groundouts. On Kenyon's side, Will Allen, a freshman, worked six innings and allowed one earned run on nine hits. He struck out one, didn't allow a walk and got 13 Monmouth batters to ground out.

Prior to most of the scoring taking place in the eighth and ninth innings. Monmouth got a run in the first and another in the fifth.

In the first, Dayton Ince reached first base on a fielder's choice. Bryson Sheppard ripped a single that pushed Ince to second and then Allen hit Grant Myers with a pitch, moving all runners up a bag. Ince reached home on the next play, thanks to a Kenyon error.

In the fifth, Austin Hardy singled to left for the Scots. He moved to second on a groundout and then came around to score on a single by Starkey.

Overall, Monmouth had 12 hits compared to 11 for Kenyon. The Lords were paced by Nam and Manning, who both went 2-for-4 with a run scored.

The Lords (2-6) have the weekend off and will next face Westminster College in a doubleheader on Monday. The first game is scheduled to start at 10 a.m.