GAMBIER, Ohio -- The Kenyon College baseball team had an eventful day at McCloskey Field on Saturday, celebrating their 2024 senior class before a North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) doubleheader against Wittenberg University and celebrating an NCAC Tournament berth afterwards. The Owls would have loved to be able to celebrate more during the twin bill as the Tigers took two close contests, but securing a spot in the postseason on Senior Day provided plenty of positives.

The Owls recognized their 10-man senior class before the games, a group that included Tripper Capps, Stephen Carr, Dillon Cleary, Malcolm Gaynor, Ben Gimbel, Ben Nash, Drew Robinson, Noah Rosenberg, Liam Rosengren, and Jackson Yelland.

One way or another, Kenyon's regular season was coming to a close following the season's final outing at home. The Owls entered the game in control of the fourth and final spot in the NCAC Tournament standings, and Kenyon needed just one win to clinch their postseason berth. However, Wittenberg was motivated to secure a sweep, as the Tigers would claim the regular-season NCAC Championship with two wins. The visitors came out on top 6-4 in a tightly-contested first game, and Wittenberg clinched its conference crown with a 3-0 game-two victory, improving to 24-15 (13-3 NCAC).

The Owls ended their regular season with a 21-15 record that included an 8-8 mark in league play, but the losses took the team's destiny out of its control. Wabash College had a chance to win its way into the NCAC Tournament and sneak past the Owls by sweeping The College of Wooster, but the Fighting Scots came through for Kenyon and won game two to keep the Little Giants down. Wabash finished with a matching 8-8 NCAC mark, but Kenyon's doubleheader sweep of the Little Giants a few weeks ago on April 20 gave the Owls the head-to-head tiebreaker. 

Kenyon will be making its first trip to the NCAC Tournament since 2018, and the team's tenacity has paid off after coming up agonizingly short on the final day of the regular season in back-to-back years. The No. 4-seeded Owls will have a chance to flip the script on the top-seeded Tigers as the teams will face off again on Thursday in Chillicothe, Ohio, in the double-elimination NCAC Tournament.

Not much separated the teams across two games today, with Wittenberg earning two wins by a combined five runs despite out-hitting a usually-potent Owls offense 22-13 over the twin bill. The Tigers jumped out to an early game-one lead with two runs on three hits in the top of the first, but Kenyon answered with three runs in the bottom of the frame. Unfortunately for the Owls, the offense only mustered one run over the next 17 innings, and Wittenberg won game one behind their own three-run inning before a three-run win in the second game.

Gio Giuliani led Kenyon in game one, going 2-for-4 with an RBI. Kenyon's four runs were scored by the top four batters in the order, including Gaynor, who also added an RBI. Capps missed out on touching home, but the senior also batted in a run.

Kenyon's ace Theo Canning was saddled with his first loss of the season, falling to 4-1 after five runs and nine hits went on his ledger in 3.1 innings despite ringing up four strikeouts. Christian Harris and Rosenberg were great in relief appearances, keeping the Owls in the game by combining for 4.1 innings of one-run baseball.

Another senior reliever, Yelland, was one of the stars of game two. Yelland held Wittenberg scoreless over 4.0 innings, giving the Owls a chance to stay alive late. The outing helped Yelland lower his season ERA to 2.37, the lowest on the team.

After Yelland and Jack Enger stranded two Tigers in the top of the inning, Kenyon's bats had a chance to turn the tide in the bottom of the ninth. Dustin Lee got the rally going after getting plunked, and Luke Meister helped the tying run reach the plate with two outs after wearing one of his own after getting hit by two game-one pitches. After coming in to catch, Carr came up with a clutch single in his first at-bat of the game to load the bases. The must-have hit forced a pitching change and brought first-year pinch hitter Tyler Nee to the plate as the winning run, but Wittenberg's Joe Horoszko secured his second save of the day with a game-winning strikeout.

Nate Rosen led Kenyon with a 2-for-4 showing in game two, joining Gaynor as the only Owls to notch a hit in both halves of the doubleheader.