FORT PIERCE, Fla. – Solid starting pitching from
Will Allen and clutch hitting from
Chris Santucci powered the Kenyon College baseball team to a 6-5 Wednesday morning win over the University of Scranton Royals.
Allen, a sophomore right-hander, had a few control issues, but worked around them during the first six innings of the spring break game at the Gladwin Sports Complex. He walked three batters in those first six innings and also dealt with two defensive errors, but Allen found a way to strand eight Scranton runners, while giving the Lords a chance to open a 4-0 lead.
The Kenyon offense first broke through in the top of the fourth inning off of Scranton starter Tony Molitoris.
Matt von Roemer and
Matt Contreras opened the frame with singles. Two batters later,
Patrick O'Leary stroked another single to bring von Roemer home with his team-leading ninth run of the season.
Paul Siciliano then stepped to the plate and ripped a double down the left field line that scored both Contreras and O'Leary.
In the fifth, Santucci, a junior, singled and moved to third base on a von Roemer double. Following another single from Contreras, Santucci scored to give Kenyon a four-run cushion.
In the bottom of the seventh, the free passes caught up to Allen. He walked two of the first three batters and was pulled from the game. Scranton then jumped on Kenyon relievers
Luke Calcei and
Brad Clegg. The Royals used three hits, two hit batsmen and a Kenyon error to score five times in the inning and took a one-run lead into the seventh.
Despite taking a no-decision, Allen yielded just four hits and two earned runs in a little more than six innings of work on the mound. He walked five and struck out seven.
In the top of the eighth inning, Kenyon capitalized on a Scranton error to reclaim the lead. With O'Leary reaching base on that error and
Joaquin Murrieta getting aboard after being hit by a pitch, Santucci came to the plate and swatted a two-out single up the middle that scored the game-tying and game-winning runs.
Sophomore
Will Oakley pitched the final two innings of the game for Kenyon and earned his first save of the season. He struck out one and the only Scranton batter to reach base on him was through the Lords' fifth error of the game. Clegg, who preceded Oakley, picked up the win.
Santucci finished 2-for-2 with a run scored and two RBI. Contreras was 4-for-5 with a run and an RBI, while von Roemer ended up going 3-for-5 with one run.
The Lords, who started the season 0-6, have now won four games in a row and look to pull closer to the .500 mark when they take on the University of Northwestern (MN) at 2 p.m. Thursday.
