GAMBIER, Ohio -- Owls fans had to wait a while to get out to McCloskey Field for the Kenyon College baseball team's home opener, and the crowd showed up and showed out for their squad in a big matchup. The Owls welcomed the No. 3-ranked Denison University Big Red for a doubleheader, and Kenyon hung tight with the top-ranked visitors before ultimately falling on both ends of the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) twin bill.

Kenyon led 2-0 late into game one before falling 3-2, and the Big Red secured the season series with a 10-2 game-two win. The Owls fell to 14-6 overall and 2-2 in league play, while Denison improved to 21-2 this season and 4-0 in NCAC contests.

Game one was a pitchers' duel that saw the starters combine to record 39 of the game's 54 outs. Each offense left four runners on base over the first three innings, and Theo Canning kept Denison in check by stranding five runners over the first four frames. 

First-year Gio Giuliani got the Owls going in the fifth inning with a savvy, perfectly placed bunt single to get a man on with one out for the top of the order. Nate Rosen kept the line moving by working a walk and setting the table for Drew Robinson to put Kenyon on the board. The senior, who had been making impressive defensive plays all game, added his bat to the mix, smashing a ball to the warning track in right center that landed for an RBI double. Malcolm Gaynor doubled Kenyon's newfound lead with a sacrifice fly in the next at-bat, putting the home team up 2-0 through five innings.

The Owls offense saw a similar situation in the bottom of the seventh. A Stephen Carr walk ahead of a bloop single by Giuliani knocked Denison starter Will Rettig out of the game. Rosen laid down a sacrifice bunt to move the runners over, but his speed helped force a rushed throw by new pitcher Ryan Starr, and Rosen reached on an error to load the bases. Starr bounced back and struck out the next two Owls batters, and a hard-hit fielder's choice by Edwin Groff ended the inning and got Starr and Denison out of the jam.

Peyton Hodges went out to the mound to start the eighth inning, closing the book on Canning's stellar outing. The starter pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing just three hits to a Big Red offense that came in averaging nearly 12 hits and 9.5 runs per game. Canning controlled Denison's bats by inducing lots of catchable contact, relying on his stout defense while striking out two batters and walking three.

After a five-pitch walk, there was a quick hook on Hodges, and Jackson Niedel came on to relieve the first-year pitcher. Denison worked another walk before beating out the throw on a bunt to juice the bases with no outs. Niedel got two outs in quick succession, but the Big Red tied the game after picking up RBIs on a groundout and a sacrifice fly. The sophomore pitcher stranded two runners on base to halt the rally, leading to a tie 2-2 game heading into the bottom of the eighth. 

Kenyon loaded the bases again in the eighth, but Denison All-American Eric Colaco saved a couple of runs with an incredible, inning-ending diving catch in left field. The Big Red made the most of the massive defensive play in the next half-inning. Despite two quick outs, Denison loaded the bases with a single and two intentional walks after a stolen base and wild pitch were mixed in. Colaco drew the intentional walk that loaded the bases, and Jake Welsch worked an RBI walk to put the visitors up 3-2. Jack Enger inherited a 1-0 count with bases loaded in the top of the ninth and got Kenyon back in the dugout, but the Owls offense could not get on the board as game one slipped away.

After a pitcher's duel in game one, neither game-two starter could get through an inning. Kenyon's Frank Lynch conceded four runs in the top of the first before Denison's Peter Lemke allowed two earned runs in the bottom of the frame. The Owls had chances to do more damage, but the Big Red threw a runner out at home before stranding three Owls on the bases to end the inning.

The offense kept rolling for the Big Red, but not for Kenyon. Denison added three runs in the second, two in the fifth, and one in the eighth, while Robbie Lee was lights out after coming on in relief in the first inning, earning the win and racking up eight strikeouts in six innings.

Gaynor and Giuliani had the best days at the plate for Kenyon, as each player picked up a pair of knocks in each end of the doubleheader. Gaynor was 4-for-9 overall with an RBI in each game, while Giuliani was 4-for-7 overall. Luke Meister also notched a two-hit game in game two, going 3-for-8 on the day.

The Owls have a chance to get back in the win column tomorrow when Kenyon heads back to Delaware, Ohio, to take on an Ohio Wesleyan University team that the Owls swept last Friday. The NCAC foes will play a single, nine-inning, non-conference game that is set to start at 3 p.m.