HIRAM, Ohio – Entering this season-opening weekend with major concerns about pitching depth, the Kenyon College baseball team saw its starting staff eliminate the uneasiness by guiding the Lords to a North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) series win against the Hiram College Terriers.
              
Following Saturday's split in which Patrick Craig and Zach Elsawy allowed just three earned runs in 11 innings of work, the Lords put together a Sunday doubleheader sweep of the Terriers as Zach Frizzera and Sam Richards combined to yield just two runs and eight hits during Kenyon victories of 10-1 and 6-1.

Although the Lords offense rang up 10 runs in game one, Frizzera, a junior, stole the spotlight by tossing a complete game four-hitter. The right-hander threw 99 pitches, allowed just one earned run, walked three, hit three and struck out six.           

From the start, the Lords offense gave Frizzera plenty of breathing room by generating a three-run first inning on a Kyle Dwyer RBI single and an Ayden Head two-run home run.

In the second inning, Will Sturgeon ripped a solo home run to left. That was his second home run in as many days and gave the Lords a 4-0 cushion. The lead increased by one in the top of third, when the Lords got two runners aboard and got one around to score on a Hiram throwing error.

In the bottom of the third, the Terriers got on the board without a base hit. Cole Bates led off with a walk and Chaisson Marrs moved him to second after being hit by a pitch. Two outs and two batters later, Frizzera hit Michael Corsillo to load the bases. Frizzera then uncorked a wild pitch to allow one run to cross the plate before he coaxed a popup to get out of the inning.

At that point, Frizzera still had not given up a hit. It wasn't until the bottom of the fourth inning, with one out, that Hiram registered its first of four hits.

In the sixth inning, the Lords put things out of reach with a five-run barrage that included hits from Trenton DiFilippo, Ryan Page, Andrew Rabinowitz and Dwyer.

In game two, Richards, a sophomore, did his best to one-up Frizzera's game-one performance. Richards also threw a complete game four-hitter. His 104 pitches included eight strikeouts, two walks and one hit batter.

As for the offense, the majority arrived in the form of a four-run second inning. In that frame, Head, Brent Henderson and Sturgeon all singled to get things going. Sturgeon's single plated a run, as did the single from DiFilippo, who was next the Kenyon order. Later in the inning, Jake Brown added another RBI single and, when the Lords went through the lineup, Rabinowitz came back up to single home DiFilippo, giving Kenyon a 4-0 lead.

Rabinowitz and Dwyer both singled again in the fourth inning, leading to the Lords' fifth run. Two innings later, Head singled and came around to score on another Sturgeon hit.

A junior catcher, Rabinowitz, who posted a .460 average in 50 at-bats last season, tore through the Terriers this weekend by batting .571 with four runs scored and six RBI. Sturgeon was 6-for-13 (.462) on the weekend, while Head was 5-for-13 (.385) and Dwyer was 5-for14 (.357).

Hiram's lone run in game two came in the bottom of the fifth inning when Corsillo doubled home Andrew Church, who led off the inning by getting hit by a Richards' pitch.

Kenyon (3-1, 3-1 NCAC), winners of three straight, will be back in action at home on Saturday as it hosts The College of Wooster in another conference doubleheader.

The series loss for Hiram dropped its records to 7-17 overall and 2-6 in the NCAC.