GAMBIER, Ohio – Kenyon College (18-12) claimed a non-conference sweep of Capital University (6-18) on Monday afternoon highlighted by
Lauren Graf's walk-off single in the bottom of the seventh in game one. The Ladies rallied from a 4-1 deficit in the final frame to earn a 5-4 victory before winning 6-3 during the second contest.
GAME ONE
The Ladies offense had put up just one run through six frames until a four-run seventh.
In that same span, Capital was able to score runs in the first, second, fourth and sixth innings. Its first tally came with two outs in the beginning. Back-to-back doubles from Cory Mangen and Kristen Mellott pushed the visitors up 1-0.
Kenyon knotted things up in the home half of the first as
Emily Buckwalter drove in fellow freshman
Grace Finn with a single to left center.
An inning later, Morgan Fadel added another run-scoring double this time plating Chevonne Hayslett.
Capital's 2-1 lead was increased to 3-1 in the fourth as Mangen connected with an RBI groundout. Then in the sixth, Mellott squeezed a single through the left side which scored Mangen.
Heading to the bottom of the seventh, the Ladies had attained six hits but picked up their offense with four more. Seniors
Nicole Horita,
Amanda Coyle and
Madi Maldonado got on base with singles. Then, with one out, Finn drew a bases-loaded walk to bring the count to 4-2. In the next at-bat, Buckwalter grounded out to plate Coyle. After that, Graf came up big. On a 2-2 pitch, she lifted a ball to right center which allowed the winning runs to come home.
GAME TWO
The Crusaders got the first lead of the game in the second as Alyx Slusher singled up the middle scoring Erica Ogden. However, an inning later, Finn smacked a two-run triple pushing Kenyon in front 2-1. The Ladies' third run in the second came on a fielder's choice from
Samantha Scali.
A couple frames later, Slusher tallied a game-tying, two-run homer to right-center field bringing the count to 3-3.
That turned out to be Capital's final run as it only got one base runner in scoring position in the sixth and seventh innings. In that time, Kenyon found three more runs.
In the fifth, Buckwalter and
Juliana Delsante each registered run-scoring doubles to put Kenyon back in front 5-3. Then in the sixth, Horita led off the inning with a home run to left center moving the score to 6-3.
Keely Sweet picked up her ninth win of the year in the circle. She tossed a complete game, fanned three and induced 16 combined groundouts and flyouts. Offensively, Finn went 3-for-4 with two RBI.
Next on the schedule for Kenyon is a conference road date at Wittenberg University on April 14 at 1 p.m.
