VERO BEACH, Fla. – A stellar showing from starting pitcher
Patrick Craig went unrewarded Wednesday after the Kenyon College baseball team struggled through the tenth inning and allowed the Bridgewater State University Bears to escape with a 4-3 win at the Dodgertown Complex.
Craig, a freshman starting his first collegiate contest, went eight innings and allowed three runs on seven hits. One of those runs was unearned. He struck out six and didn't walk a batter. He induced a dozen groundball outs and six fly-outs.
Things unraveled for Kenyon late in the game. Tied 3-3 going into the tenth inning, the Lords got back-to-back, two-out singles from
Alex Gow and
Alex Hoskins. Neither runner advanced, however, as the Lords' half of the inning ended when Hoskins was thrown out at second on a fielder's choice.
Patrick O'Leary, who relieved Craig, worked through the ninth and tenth inning for the Lords. In the bottom of the ninth, he got some help when left fielder
Mikey Arman threw out the potential game-winning run at the plate to end the inning.
In the bottom of tenth, O'Leary gave up a leadoff single, but got the next two outs. He then intentionally walked the Bears' No. 4 hitter and unintentionally walked the next batter to load up the bases. Alex Carey then ended the game when he got on board via a Kenyon error, one that allowed the game-winning run to score.
Back in the first inning, Craig did have a bit of a shaky start. He gave up two runs on three hits, including two doubles. After settling in, the only other run he allowed was of the unearned variety in the fifth inning.
Kenyon logged one run in each of the first three innings. In the first, Arman singled and came around to score on a triple ripped by O'Leary. In the second,
Joaquin Murrieta got on base via walk. He moved to second on a wild pitch and later scored on a single from
Eric DelRosso. Finally, in the third inning, Kenyon benefitted from another walk, this one delivered to Arman. After he reached base, he moved to second on a sacrifice bunt, moved to third on a balk and scored on a sacrifice fly hit by O'Leary.
O'Leary finished the game 2-for-4 with two RBI. The only other multi-hit game from Kenyon came from
Trenton DiFilippo, who went 2-for-3.
Alex McGrath got the start for Bridgewater State, but lasted just three innings on the mound. David Manning, who pitched the final two innings of the game and yielded just two hits and a walk, earned the pitching victory.
The loss dropped Kenyon to 0-4, while the win bumped the Bears to 3-4.
