FORT PIERCE, Fla. -- The Kenyon College Owls started their 2025 baseball season at the Lawnwood Baseball Complex in Fort Pierce, Florida on Sunday, but Kenyon's season opener was spoiled by Susquehanna University as the River Hawks held off Kenyon's comeback efforts for a 4-2 win.
The game began as a pitchers' duel as both starters were shoving. Frank Lynch was on the bump for Kenyon, and the senior spun five stellar innings to shut down Susquehanna's offense. Lynch tallied three strikeouts and three left stranded over the first two innings, and he got out of a two-on, one-out jam in the third to keep it scoreless.
Lynch had hardly sniffed a two-ball count early on despite some traffic on the bases, but he fell down 3-0 to start the fourth frame. However, the lefty battled back with three straight strikes and three straight outs to preserve the shutout. Lynch left the game with six strikeouts, no walks, and just three hits through five innings, which was a great start to the season.
On the other side, Susquehanna's Evan Applegate also had a strong start. Applegate held Kenyon scoreless through six innings, allowing three hits and striking out three. He went on to earn the win after the Red Hawks bullpen avoided a collapse.
Offensively, Kenyon's first big moment came when Luke Meister laced a one-out triple in the bottom of the fifth inning to give the Owls a spark. The momentum continued to build as Ben Russell worked a walk, but the River Hawks worked their way out of the jam to keep Kenyon off the board.
The defensive stop and offensive outage loomed even larger after the top of the sixth inning unfolded. Theo Canning came on in relief of Lynch to start the sixth, and the two-time all-conference performer looked to be out of the inning after inducing an unconventional double play that saw the batter foul out and Canning cover first to double up a runner that was going on contact. However, Russell was called for catcher's interference, allowing both runners to reach base.
Susquehanna made the most of the second chance, turning the miscue into three runs on three hits. Though the inning could have been over due to the would-be double play, two of the runs still went down as earned runs on Canning's ledger as the junior recorded just one out before Christian Harris came in to stop the spurt.
The River Hawks added another unearned run in the top of the eighth to go ahead 4-0, but the Owls still had some fight left in them in the bottom of the frame. Nike Price hit a leadoff single to set the tone, and Kenyon later saw four straight baserunners reach with two outs as the Owls gave Susquehanna a taste of their own medicine with a couple of unearned runs. Edwin Groff and Luke Meister got plunked to bookend Tyler Nee reaching on an error, and Meister's HBP picked up an RBI to put Kenyon on the board. Russell worked an RBI walk to pull the Owls within two with the bases loaded, but Susquehanna's Jaden Buechler got out of the jam with a crucial strikeout.
Buechler secured the save after stranding Nate Rosen, who brought the tying run to the plate with a leadoff walk, in the bottom of the ninth to clinch the 4-2 win.
The Owls continue their spring break slate in less than 24 hours as Kenyon heads up to the Jackie Robinson Training Complex in Vero Beach, Florida for a doubleheader against fellow Capital University in a battle between central Ohio teams. Game one is set to start at 11 a.m. on Monday, March 3.
