GREENCASTLE, Ind. – Sophomore Matt Contreras had five hits and the Kenyon College Lords got some solid pitching during Sunday's season-ending doubleheader split with the DePauw University Tigers. The Lords got two runs in the ninth to win game one, 8-6, and the host Tigers rang up three runs in the seventh to take game two, 6-4.

The split, which was part of the North Coast Athletic Conference Crossover Series, finalized Kenyon's 2017 records at 17-23 overall and a fourth-place mark of 6-13 in the NCAC East Division. DePauw, which took two of three games from Kenyon in the weekend Crossover Series, improved to 29-9 overall and a first-place finish in the NCAC West Division with a 12-5 record. DePauw, along with The College of Wooster, Oberlin College and Denison University, advances to next week's NCAC Tournament to determine the conference champion.

In Sunday's first game, Kenyon held leads of 3-0 and 6-3, but the Tigers kept clawing back, tying the game 3-3 in the bottom of the third and then tying it up again 6-6 in the bottom of the eighth.

In the top of the ninth, Kenyon moved ahead again, this time for good. Max Warren led off the inning by getting hit by a pitch. He was replaced at first base by the quicker Ben Scheinberg. That move paid off immediately as Phillip Nam ripped a double to left center and Scheinberg came all away around to score.

In between two strikeouts, Nam advanced to third base on a DePauw wild pitch. With two outs, Cormac Jewell earned a walk. Contreras was up next and he drilled a single up the middle to score Nam. That was the third hit of the game for Contreras, who was 3-for-4 with a double, a run scored, an RBI and a stolen base.

Warren and Paul Siciliano both had two hits. Warren drove in two runs and also scored once in the fifth inning. Siciliano scored twice, once in the third and again in the fifth. Leadoff man Matt von Roemer had just one hit, but it was a two-run triple in the third inning. 

On the mound, Kenyon got seven strong innings from freshman Will Allen, who gave up five runs, only two of which were earned. He struck out four and walked just one. Jake Berry, normally a back-up catcher, pitched the final five outs of the game and earned the win. He gave up just one hit and fanned two batters.

Kenyon had ten hits in game one and then eight hits in game two. The middle of the order did most of the damage for the Lords in the second game. Gaige Howard, hitting in the fifth spot was 2-for-3 with two runs scored. Contreras, hitting in the sixth spot, was 2-for-4 with a run and two RBI. Right behind him, Alec Manning was 2-for-4 with two RBI.

The Lords took a 2-0 lead in the second inning on a two-run homer from Contreras. DePauw got one back in the bottom of the inning, but Manning smashed a two-run double to right in the fourth to give Kenyon a 4-1 lead.

DePauw's run in the second inning was unearned as were the two the Tigers scored in the fourth inning to close the gap to 4-3. In the bottom of the seven, DePauw took the lead for good on a three-run homer from Jack Thompson that closed out the scoring at 6-4. The homer was one of just seven hits for the Tigers, who had eight in game one.

Patrick O'Leary was Kenyon's game-two starting pitcher. He threw into the fourth inning and gave up three unearned runs. He walked four and struck out one. Brad Clegg replaced O'Leary and took the loss after giving up the homer to Thompson.

In all, only six of the Tigers' 12 combined runs in the doubleheader were earned.