FORT PIERCE, Fla. – Holding a 4-3 lead in the top of the seventh inning, the Kenyon College baseball team turned to its bullpen to secure the win. The bullpen, however, got smacked around by the Misericordia University Cougars, who piled up a dozen unanswered runs and claimed a 15-4 victory.
The loss spoiled the Lords' season opener and also a great outing from Kenyon starting pitcher,
Will Allen, a right-handed sophomore. Allen, who had a 3-2 record last season, threw six innings Sunday against the Cougars. He allowed seven hits and three earned runs. He didn't walk a batter and he struck out four.
Allen's performance kept Kenyon in front for a good chunk of the game. He got some support in the top of the third inning, when the Lords scored the first run of the game. With one out, senior
Matt von Roemer doubled to right center. Two batters later, junior
Matt Contreras singled to left, scoring von Roemer.
Save
The Cougars answered in the bottom of the third, but Kenyon reclaimed the lead with a single run in the top of the fifth inning. It was von Roemer, hitting out of the leadoff spot, who sparked the Lords again. He ripped a one-out single through the left side of the infield.
Mikey Arman then singled to right and a Misericordia error allowed the Keyon runners to move up to second and third. Contreras then lofted a sacrifice fly to left that scored von Roemer.
The Cougars responded again, this time with two runs in the bottom of the fifth off of Allen to take a 3-2 advantage.
The back-and-forth continued into the seventh inning with Kenyon making the next move. After
Joaquin Murrieta walked to open the inning, a wild pitch and an
Eric DelRosso single moved him to third. With no one out, von Roemer stroked a sacrifice fly to center field, scoring Murrieta. Back-to-back singles from Arman and Contreras got DelRosso home and gave the Lords a 4-3 lead.
Allen left the mound after facing 26 batters and the Cougars began to feast on the Kenyon bullpen. They tallied five runs in the bottom of the seventh inning and seven more runs in the bottom of the eighth. Throughout those two innings, Misericordia batters amassed three doubles, a triple, six singles, three walks, two hit-by-pitches and a couple of stolen bases.
Like his counterpart, Allen, Misericordia starting pitcher Drake Koch got a raw deal. He pitched six-and-a-third innings, gave up just three earned runs and struck out 11, but did not get the win. He left in the top of the seventh inning with Kenyon still ahead 4-3. Instead, Ian McCole picked up the win in relief.
Contreras, Arman, von Roemer and freshman
Alex Gow all finished with two hits for the Lords offense. Contreras posted three RBI, while von Roemer scored twice and had one RBI.
Kenyon will put this one in the rear-view mirror and move on to face Monmouth College on Monday at 10 a.m.
