GAMBIER, Ohio -- After two straight seasons that saw the Kenyon College baseball team get bumped from postseason position on the final day of the regular season, the Owls are headed to the 2024 North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament. Kenyon secured the No. 4 seed in the four-team field after ending their regular season against Wittenberg University on Saturday, and the Owls will again take on the Tigers, the tournament's top seed, on Thursday, May 9, at noon at Veterans Administration Memorial Stadium in Chillicothe, Ohio.

Kenyon is also guaranteed to play on Friday as the tournament format is double-elimination. The winner of the matchup between the Owls and the Tigers will play at 10 a.m. on Friday, May 10, against the winner of Thursday's second game, a matchup between No. 2-seeded Denison University and No. 3-seeded DePauw University. The two losing teams from Thursday will match up in an elimination game on Friday at 1:30 p.m., and the winner of that elimination game will advance to another elimination game against the loser of Friday's opening game to close out the day. Finally, the two remaining teams will play on either Saturday, May 11, or Sunday, May 12, depending on which squads secure spots in the NCAC Tournament finale.

The Owls enter the postseason with a 21-15 overall record that included an 8-8 mark in conference contests. Kenyon earned the fourth seed through a tiebreaker after sweeping Wabash College, which also finished 8-8 in league play, in their season series. This marks the sixth time Kenyon will play in the NCAC Tournament, and the program is still trying for its first tournament title. Kenyon made the postseason in 2018, and the program's only NCAC Tournament victories came in 2009 when the team won a best-of-three series before bowing out in the second round.

Across the field, Wittenberg comes in with a 24-15 record, including a league-leading 13-3 mark against NCAC foes. The Tigers earned the tournament's top seed by a tiebreaker, but Wittenberg shared the regular-season NCAC Championship with Denison. Denison posted a 35-5 (13-3) regular-season record, and the Big Red are ranked No. 2 in NCAA Division III standings with two first-place votes. DePauw compiled a 23-15 record, and the Tigers took the tournament's third seed by going 12-4 in NCAC clashes.

Amongst NCAC teams, Kenyon ranks third in team earned run average (5.20) and fourth in team batting average (.307). The Owls have also posted a .970 fielding percentage, tied for second in the league. 

Dustin Lee leads Kenyon with a .354 average, a mark that ranks 16th amongst NCAC players. Gio Giuliani (.353) and Nate Rosen (.341) are not far behind. Luke Meister is tied with Lee for the team lead in RBIs with 25, and the duo joins Parker Gibbons with three home runs in a three-way tie for first. 

On the mound, Theo Canning leads qualified Owls with a 3.48 ERA in 51.2 innings, the league's fifth-lowest mark. Before a hiccup on Saturday against Wittenberg, the sophomore sported a 2.79, a mark that would rank third in the NCAC. First-year Peyton Hodges also qualifies amongst individual leaders, posting a 4.23 ERA in 38.1 innings that ranks seventh in the conference. Jackson Yelland does not quite meet the requirement of 1.0 innings pitched per game, but the senior's 2.37 ERA is a team-low amongst all pitchers.

As a team, Wittenberg paces the NCAC with a .344 batting average and ranks second with a 5.13 ERA. Denison has been dominant on the mound with a league-low 3.69 ERA, and the Big Red rank second with a .338 batting average. DePauw ranks sixth in hitting at .297, but the Tigers are fourth in team ERA at 5.40. DePauw, Denison, and Wittenberg hurlers have the three best individual ERAs. Each team has a player in the top nine in batting average, with Denison's leaders ranking third and fourth and Wittenberg's leaders ranking sixth and eighth.

Kenyon is a combined 1-5 this season against the rest of the tournament field, but the Owls have had success against each squad. Kenyon held a late lead at home against Denison on April 6 before the No. 3-ranked Big Red escaped with a 3-2 win and maintained their momentum with a 10-2 game-two victory. On April 27, Kenyon fell 9-3 at DePauw before the Owls offense exploded for a 17-5 win that lasted eight innings due to run rule. This past weekend, Kenyon and Wittenberg were separated by just five runs across two games, with the Tigers taking a tight 6-4 game-one win before holding down the Owls offense in a 3-0 decision.

As mandated by the NCAC, ticket prices for the tournament are $7 for adults and $3 for students and children. Each ticket is good for one day of admission at the tournament.