FORT PIERCE, Fla. – The Kenyon College Lords baseball team rallied for an early 6-5 win Friday, but attempts at repeating another comeback fell short in game two, as the Elizabethtown College Blue Jays held on for an 8-5 victory to salvage a doubleheader split at the Gladwin Baseball Complex.
Trailing 5-3 in the sixth inning of game one, Kenyon got a single from freshman
Brent Henderson, who stepped in to pinch hit.
Paul Siciliano then laced a double down the left field line, moving Henderson to third. Elizabethtown pitcher Tyler Dunbar then uncorked a wild pitch, allowing Henderson to score and Siciliano to move to third.
Next up,
Eric DelRosso slapped a ground ball to third base that the Blue Jays couldn't handle. That brought Siciliano home to tie the game, 5-5.
Joaquin Murrieta sacrificed DelRosso to second base and
Will Sturgeon singled to put runners at first and third with just one out.
That set the stage for a double steal in which Sturgeon swiped second and DelRosso took home, giving the Lords a 6-5 lead, one they maintained through the final inning.
Kenyon reliever
Ross Scheinberg picked up the pitching win by recording the final 10 outs of the game. In just over three innings of work, he allowed one earned run on three hits and two walks. He stepped in for starter
Will Allen, who went three-and-two-thirds, allowed seven hits and three runs.
Prior to scoring three in the sixth, Kenyon scored three times in the first five innings. Back in the first,
Ryan Page singled on the very first pitch of the game. On the next pitch,
Matt Contreras tripled to right center, scoring Page. Two batters later,
Patrick O'Leary got Contreras home with a sacrifice fly.
The Lords' other run was scored by Contreras, as well. He scampered home on an RBI single from Gow in the fifth inning.
Kenyon jumped out to a great start in game two, also. With Page and Contreras aboard in the top of the first inning, Gow ripped a three-run homer to centerfield. That was his second home run of the season and the third of his collegiate career.
Elizabethtown (3-6) got to Kenyon game-two starter
Nathan Chandler for two runs in the bottom of the second, but the Lords plated two more runs in the third, this time on a two-run homer off the bat of O'Leary.
With a 5-2 lead, the Lords looked to be in good position, but Derek Manning and the Blue Jays had other thoughts. Manning hit a solo home run in the third inning and then a two-run dinger in the sixth. In between those two blasts, the Blue Jays scored three time in fourth and eventually strapped Chandler with the loss.
The Lords (5-3) had plenty of opportunities to put the game away, but ended up stranding eight runners on base, including two in the sixth inning and three in the seventh.
Throughout the doubleheader, Gow went 3-for-7 with a run scored and four RBI. Page was 3-for-6 with three runs scored. Both O'Leary and Henderson ended up 2-for-5.
Saturday is a day off for the Lords. They'll resume action on Sunday at 1 p.m. with a single, nine-inning, game against Cairn University.
