BLUFFTON, Ohio -- The Kenyon College softball team didn't have any issues putting up hits and runs Saturday at Bluffton University. The Owls, however, were unable to hold a lead and got swept by the host Beavers, who won game one, 7-5, and then took game two, 12-11.

The Owls (7-9) scored those 16 runs on 19 hits, including eight doubles and two home runs. Sophomore Leah Kuban made the most noise, going a combined 3-for-6 with three runs scored, five RBI, three walks, a pair of doubles, and a home run. 

Junior Keala Montgomery, who extended her hit streak to six games, got Kenyon started in the top of the first inning of game one. She drew a walk, stole second, and scored on a double off the bat of Kuban. Two innings later, Kuban smashed a three-run home run to right field, giving the Owls a 4-0 lead in the top of the third. The homer was Kuban's team-leading third of the season.

Kenyon starting pitcher Jillian Messinger gave up a run in the bottom of the third, but Kenyon got it right back in the top of the fourth when Montgomery doubled to right field, scoring Madison Buckwalter.

Messinger allowed five hits and three walks in four innings pitched, while giving up just the one run. She was replaced by Izzy Akin in the fifth inning. Akin got off to a shaky start, walking the first two batters she faced. The third batter, pinch hitter Hailey Mowell, made her pay, unleashing a three-run homer to left. A single followed and Akin was replaced in the circle by Allison McCutchen.

Bluffton bats did not let up. After that three-run fifth inning, the Beavers put up another three runs in the sixth inning, getting to McCutchen and the Kenyon defense for three hits, a walk, and an error.

Leah Schlissberg doubled in the top of the seventh, bringing the tying run to the plate with two outs, but the Owls' next two batters grounded out and flied out.

Kenyon bats returned with a vengeance for game two. The Owls scored five runs on four hits, a walk, and two Bluffton errors in the top of the first inning. Kuban, again, was at the heart of it, as she doubled home Schlissberg and then came around to score on a single from Peyton Green. With Green aboard, Brooke Avila blasted her first home run of the season and, later in the inning, Lily Colvin singled and came around to score on a Bluffton error.

Kinsey White added an RBI single in the third inning and Avila laced an RBI double in the fifth to give Kenyon a 7-1 advantage. White then doubled home Avila and later scored on another Bluffton error, the Beavers' fourth of the game. That gave the Owls an eight-run advantage and put them on the verge of ending the game early.

Bluffton (6-6) had other ideas. The Beavers ripped into Kenyon pitching for seven runs in the bottom of the fifth inning. Kenyon plated two more in the top of the sixth inning to move ahead 11-8, but the unrelenting Beavers scored four more times in the bottom of the sixth to complete the rally and steal the win.

In addition to Kuban's three hits on the day, Montgomery and Avila also had three. Green ended up with a four-hit day after going 3-for-5 with three runs scored and an RBI in game two.

Kenyon now heads back to campus for its home opener on Sunday against the Otterbein University Cardinals.