FORT PIERCE, Fla. -- The Kenyon College baseball never had to play from behind against Wheaton College (Ill.), but the Owls still had to stave off a late-inning comeback to steal the Thunder's thunder in a 12-9, 10-inning victory. The win bumps Kenyon's record to 4-1, the program's best start since going 4-1 to open the 2013 season, while Wheaton fell to 3-6.

Tripper Capps helped Kenyon go up 2-0 in the top of the second after hitting an RBI double and coming home on an RBI by Stephen Carr. Wheaton answered with a run in the bottom of the second, but the Owls scored one in the third and two in the fourth to build a 5-1 edge. 

The teams went back and forth as each squad scored twice in the fourth and fifth frames. The Owls' runs came on a pair of two-RBI doubles from Kyle Dwyer and Niko Price, while Wheaton scored runs on a homer and a double in the fourth and on a bases-loaded walk and a sacrifice fly in the fifth. 

A pair of two-out runs in the top of the seventh and eighth innings had Kenyon in position to close out the victory. Price hit an RBI single in the seventh to bring an unearned run across before Drew Robinson hit an RBI triple in the eighth to make it a 9-5 ballgame. 

However, Wheaton was not willing to give the Owls the win just yet. Kenyon had gotten out of numerous jams and stranded 10 Thunder runners through seven innings, including at least one in every frame. A run on two hits in the bottom of the eighth cut Kenyon's lead to 9-6, though Noah Rosenberg managed to strand another runner on third.

Kenyon was poised to add to the lead in the top of the ninth after the first two batters reached to make it first and third with no outs, but a strikeout with a runners interference call on the same play took the wind out of their sails and kept the Owls from tacking on an insurance run. 

Leaving the door open for Wheaton proved costly in the bottom of the ninth. Edwin Groff allowed a single before two wild pitches, and an RBI double by the second batter made it a 9-7 game. Another wild pitch forced Groff to come out and Sam Richards to come in with a chance to close out the game. The right-hander conceded an RBI groundout before inducing a foul out and was one out away from the save in a one-run game. Enter Wheaton's leadoff hitter Harrison Stanton, who cranked a home run to right center field that carried just enough and tied the game at 9-9 in the bottom of the ninth.

Still, Richards got out of the inning while stranding another Thunder runner to send the game into extra innings. Wheaton had all the momentum and generated two quick outs from the bottom of the order, but Kenyon's leadoff man Nate Rosen reached on an error to spark the Owls. Robinson nubbed an infield single before Malcolm Gaynor got plunked to load the bases. Enter Dustin Lee, who slapped a pinch-hit single down the left-field line that put the Owls up 11-9. Sam Howell added another unearned run with an RBI single in the ensuing at-bat, giving Kenyon a 12-9 lead headed into the bottom of the tenth.

Abe Wingfield came in to pitch the potential final frame, but the first-year was pulled before recording an out after a walk, a hit-by-pitch, and a single. Howell took over the bases-loaded, no-out jam and immediately induced consecutive infield flyouts. With two outs and the winning run at the plate, Howell struck out the game's final batter to clinch Kenyon's 12-9 victory.

Howell (1-0) earned the win in the wild game, the first of the season for the first-year. Overall, Kenyon pitchers struck out eight, walked two, and allowed just nine runs on 20 hits. Offensively, Robinson (3-6), Gaynor (3-5), and Price (3-5) all had three-hit games. Price finished with a game-high three RBIs, while Robinson scored a game-high three runs.

The Owls get right back at it tomorrow, March 11, at 10 a.m. for game one of a doubleheader against Penn State Behrend (4-5). The twin bill continues a stretch of five games in four days for Kenyon.