SPRINGFIELD, Ohio -- The Kenyon College baseball team kept a tough Wittenberg University Tigers team mostly in check across a season-ending doubleheader. Still, the Owls could not come away with a win as the Tigers swept the twin bill behind two four-run innings, securing victories of 5-3 and 5-0.

Kenyon came into the game with a chance to significantly boost its chances to play in the postseason with a win on the road against one of the North Coast Athletic Conference's (NCAC) top teams. However, Wittenberg took the ball out of Kenyon's hands as the Owls now need a little help to hold off Wabash College for the fourth spot in the upcoming four-team NCAC Tournament.

The Owls nearly picked up the big win they were looking for in the first game of the twin bill. With Theo Canning on the mound, Kenyon held the Tigers scoreless through six innings and led 3-1 at the end of the seventh.

Kenyon's dangerous offense was mostly held down in the pitchers' duel, but two small-ball runs in the second put the Owls up early. Stephen Carr scored on a wild pitch before Malcolm Gaynor picked up an RBI on an infield hit. Later, in the seventh inning, Edwin Groff launched his fifth home run of the season to increase the lead to 3-0. The sweet-swinging sophomore went 3-5 at the plate, joining Tripper Capps (2-5) as the only Owls to have a multi-hit game.

Canning conceded a run on an RBI sacrifice fly in the seventh and pitched one out into the eighth inning before new pitcher Lewis Cropper came in with two inherited runners. Cropper gave up an RBI single and a three-RBI home run to the first two batters he faced and left the game without recording an out as Wittenberg held a 5-3 lead. 

The Tigers closed out the win to steal game one, and the home team carried the momentum into game two with a solo homer in the first inning. However, Kenyon's pitchers locked in and kept the Tigers off the board for six of the next seven innings. Sam Richards started game two after recording the final two outs in game one, and the senior was solid over four innings.

Unfortunately, one rough inning resulted in four Wittenberg runs, putting the Tigers up 5-0. First-years Andrew Catron and Jackson Niedel were responsible for the damage as two runs went on each Owls' ledger.

The Owls managed just four game-two hits after out-hitting Wittenberg 8-5 in game one, and the Tigers stranded Kenyon runners in the fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth innings to clinch their doubleheader sweep.

The three-day NCAC Tournament begins on Thursday, May 11, after the regular-season standings shake out over the next few days.