GAMBIER, Ohio -- The Kenyon College baseball team welcomed The College of Wooster to Gambier for a North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) twin bill on the final day of the 2025 regular season. Though the Owls had been eliminated from playoff contention prior to the games, the home team still played hard and showed why the program is in the midst of one of the best stretches in Kenyon history. Kenyon shut down and shut out the Fighting Scots, winning 5-0 in game one and holding the visitors without an earned run through 20 innings. However, Craziness ensued in the 12th inning, and when it was all said and done, the Owls stayed unbeaten with a 4-4 tie.

Mother nature continued to have a hand in this spring season, and game two went into an untimely weather delay in the bottom of the 12th inning. Lightning and subsequent rain stopped play with Kenyon down to its final out and Wooster leading 4-1 after a go-ahead three-run double from All-American Ryan Kramer, who was just 1-for-10 in the twin bill before then,  in the top of the frame. With the sun having set and only a wet, dark field to return to, the game appeared headed to an end before resumption, which would have reverted the final back to a 1-1, 11-inning tie. Still, the teams stuck it out and got back on the field, and the game proved to be far from over.

The action quickly headed back up with Robbie Coates, the No. 9 hitter, at the plate, Jonah Feinberg on first, and two outs on the board. Wooster's Ben Tarpey took the mound again after the delay, but the pitcher plunked Coates on the first throw to bring the tying run to the plate. Nate Rosen, one of Kenyon's seniors suiting up for the final time, stepped in and didn't take long to provide a signature moment that will go down as one of the craziest ends to a baseball game you could ask for. The leadoff man launched a ball toward right field that kept carrying and slicing, right over the wall near the foul pole.

The game-tying blast sent Kenyon into a frenzy as the Owls battled back from the brink. Though the big swing marked the end of the scoring for the game, Kenyon certainly ended its season on a high note. The teams remained deadlocked at 4-4 after some shutdown pitching by Jackson Niedel, and the game was officially called due to darkness after 13 full innings, ending in a 4-4 tie.

Kenyon finished the season with a 15-15-1 overall record and posted a third straight eight-win season in NCAC action, going 8-7-1. Wooster will take a 22-15-1 (11-4-1 NCAC) record into the upcoming NCAC Tournament, where they enter as the No. 4 seed in the four-team playoff.

Before the game-two shenanigans, the Owls had largely orchestrated a dominant performance against the Fighting Scots. The Owls jumped out to an early game-one lead when Parker Gibbons hit an RBI sacrifice fly in the bottom of the first inning, driving in Tyler Nee.

Nee had a big first game, contributing to the first four of Kenyon's five runs. The sophomore put the Owls ahead 3-0 with a two-RBI triple in the fifth inning, and he came around to score on a Dustin Lee sacrifice fly in foul territory. Ben Resnick added the final blow when an RBI groundout brought Luke Meister around to score in the eighth inning.

On the mound, two seniors are all it took to get the job done and secure Kenyon's second shutout of the season. Frank Lynch (5-3) got the ball rolling and earned the win, pitching five shutout innings that included four strikeouts and just one hit allowed. Fellow lefty Christian Harris handled the Fighting Scots the rest of the way, picking up the save after four innings of four-strikeout, two-hit baseball.

Another senior spun a stellar start in game two as Lewis Cropper capped a career campaign. Cropper pitched six-plus innings and allowed just four hits and no earned runs. The only run on his ledger came across after he was off the mound, but Theo Canning made up for the unearned run with two great relief innings that featured four strikeouts. Jack Enger also had a strong three innings of relief, and Griffin Jackson, Andrew Catron, and Niedel contributed to the lengthy outing.

Prior to Rosen's three-run swing, Kenyon's other game-two run came in the fourth inning. Lee led off with a triple, and just like in game one, it was Gibbons who drove in the first run of the game. The senior did so in the same way, driving in his classmate on a sacrifice fly after a lengthy at-bat.

Offensively, Nee was 3-for-8 on the day, including a 2-for-3 first game that included two RBIs and two runs. Lee was 4-for-9 after going 3-for-6 in game two. Gibbons was the only Owl with an RBI in each game.

With the 2025 season in the books, the Owls also bid farewell to a senior class that includes Cropper, Feinberg, Gibbons, Edwin Groff, Harris, Lee, Lynch, Meister, Rosen, and Ryan Beach-Verhey, who was a staple in the pressbox this season after being sidelined by injury for the past two seasons.