GAMBIER, Ohio -- Pitching was the name of the games at McCloskey Field on Saturday as starters on both sides had stellar showings. Frank Lynch helped the Kenyon College (7-8) baseball team land a fifth straight win after one of the best games of his career was bolstered by big hits, leading to an 8-1 Owls win in the team's home opener. The Albion College Britons (5-8) bounced back in game two with the same formula, securing a split of the twin bill with a 9-1 victory.

Lynch took the mound to start the day, and the senior continued to turn in a fantastic campaign. The lefty left the Britons without an answer, tallying a whopping 13 strikeouts while allowing just three baserunners over seven innings, including one who reached after striking out. Even that didn't matter for Lynch, who proceeded to strike out the next batter. 

The pitcher pounded the zone early and often, and he conceded just one walk and one hit over his 90-pitch outing. Even after the Albion hit, Lynch immediately picked off the baserunner to get out of the inning. The seven-inning outing sets a new career high for Lynch, who also tied his career high with 13 K's. On the season, Lynch is 3-0 in four starts with a minuscule 0.41 ERA, 29 strikeouts over 22.0 innings, and an impressive 9.67 strikeout-to-walk ratio, all while holding opposing hitters to a .188 batting average.

As has been the formula for the Owls before this season, fellow lefty senior Christian Harris helped finish off a strong Lynch start. Harris recorded the final six outs, five by way of strikeouts to give the senior 17 punchouts in 11.2 innings. Harris did give up his first earned run of the season, but he still has a 0.77 ERA over a team-high five appearances.

On the offensive side, the Owls got to Albion's ace, Cole Giesige, before tacking on more runs against relievers. Giesige entered the game with a 3-0 record and a 2.12 ERA, but Kenyon hung three earned runs and four total runs on him over the course of five innings.

Kenyon's first run came after an errant throw by the catcher as Nate Rosen and Edwin Groff pulled off a double steal and Rosen trotted home to score on the third-inning error. In the next inning, Rosen added an RBI on a sacrifice fly after a tricky popup into shallow center, putting Kenyon up 3-0 before another double steal allowed Tyler Nee to take home for a 4-0 lead.

Niko Price had a strong day at the plate with RBI doubles in the fifth and seventh innings, tacking two more runs onto Kenyon's lead. Then, in the eighth inning, Groff got a hold of one and added three more to the team's score with his fourth home run of the season.

Albion scored a run in the ninth, but Kenyon clinched a fifth straight win with an 8-1 victory. Groff hit 3-for-4 with three RBIs and two runs. Nee went 3-for-3 and tied for the second-most stolen bases in a single game in program history, swiping four bags in as many tries. Price was 2-for-4 with two RBIs and a run, while Dustin Lee also laced a pair of hits and scored in a 2-for-5 effort.

Game two mirrored game one in many ways, but it was Albion who finished on the right side of the scoreboard. The Britons flipped the script with a 9-1 win, but it looked like Kenyon still had momentum from game one after landing the first blow in the first inning.

Parker Ellis picked up an RBI on a sacrifice fly in his season's first at-bat, bringing in Rosen to put the Owls up 1-0 in the bottom of the first. However, it was all Albion from then on as the Britons benefitted from a stellar start by Brayden Raether. Ellis had the best game for the Owls, going 2-for-2 after his sacrifice fly and finishing with a 2-for-3 mark in his season debut.

Raether settled in and mixed quick outs with strikeout stuff, and the senior spun a complete game win. Raether finished with 11 strikeouts over nine innings, and he needed just 95 pitches to get 27 outs. Kenyon managed six hits, but Raether went without issuing a walk to limit the home team's scoring.

On the other side, Albion's offense strung together four straight scoring innings, tacking on two in the third, two more on a two-RBI triple in the fourth, one on a solo homer in the fifth, and four in the sixth. All four sixth-inning runs were unearned, but the runs still counted as Albion scored on a single before a big three-run round-tripper solidified the final score.

Kenyon has a quick turnaround as the Owls will head to Wilmington, Ohio, to take on the Wilmington College Quakers for a one-game matchup tomorrow, March 23. First pitch of the nine-inning, intrastate affair is set for noon.