FORT PIERCE, Fla. – Pitching was the name of the game Monday, as the Kenyon College baseball team picked up two wins after yielding just three runs in a doubleheader sweep of the Houghton College Highlanders. The Lords won game, 4-2, and then used an extra inning in game two to claim a 2-1 victory.
Junior right-hander
Will Allen got the start for the Lords in game one and set the tone for the day. He threw all seven innings and picked up the team's first win of the season by striking out six, walking none and allowing just two hits.
Houghton got both of its hits off Allen in the second inning and tallied one run on a sacrifice fly. In the seventh inning, Allen hit two Highlanders and one came around to score on another sacrifice fly.
Prior to the first Houghton run, the Lords scored their first run in the top of the second.
Patrick O'Leary started off the inning with a single. He moved to second on a balk and later came around to score thanks to a Houghton error.
In the third, the Lords piled up three more runs. Houghton starting pitcher Brandon Joslin loaded up the bases with three straight walks.
Will Sturgeon,
Matt Contreras and
Alex Gow eventually all came around to score for Kenyon and RBI were credited to O'Leary,
J.J. Conway and
Trenton DiFilippo.
Freshman righty
Zach Elsawy followed Allen's example in game two. He pitched seven innings and gave up one run on five hits and a walk. He also fanned eight of the 27 batters he faced.
Kenyon scored the game's first run after Contreras led off the third with a double. He advanced to third on another Houghton error and scored on an RBI ground out from O'Leary.
Houghton knotted things up in the fourth. Ben Closson singled and Cal Phillips doubled off Elsawy. Jared Couch then flied out to right field, scoring Closson on the Highlanders' third sacrifice fly of the day.
The teams couldn't decide a winner in seven innings, so they moved on to the eighth.
Brad Clegg relieved Elsawy and walked the leadoff batter, but shut down the next three Houghton batters in order.
In the bottom of the frame, Contreras led off with a double for Kenyon. He later stole third base and scored the game-winning run on a walk-off single struck by
Brent Henderson.
The Lords had nine hits in game two and four of them came from Contreras, who was a combined 5-for-6 with two walks and three runs scored throughout the two-game set. O'Leary didn't have a hit in game two, but still went 3-for-7 with a run and two RBI on the day.
Kenyon (2-1) gets a day off Tuesday and returns to the diamond Wednesday for a single, nine-inning contest with Maritime College.
