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Kenyon College Athletics

5
Kenyon KENYON 16-18
8
Winner Oberlin OBERLIN 14-12
Kenyon KENYON
16-18
5
Final
8
Oberlin OBERLIN
14-12
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Kenyon KENYON 2 1 1 0 1 0 0 5 11 4
Oberlin OBERLIN 0 6 0 2 0 0 X 8 10 1

W: Hailey Alspach (10-8) L: Hamm, Kylie (8-6)

6
Winner Kenyon KENYON 16-17
4
Oberlin OBERLIN 15-12
Winner
Kenyon KENYON
16-17
6
Final
4
Oberlin OBERLIN
15-12
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Kenyon KENYON 1 3 1 1 0 0 0 6 12 1
Oberlin OBERLIN 0 0 0 1 0 1 2 4 12 1

W: Boue, Becca (2-2) L: Cash Stone (4-4)

Keala Montgomery
Marty Fuller

Game Recap: Softball |

Owls split with Oberlin, keep hold on NCAC playoff position

OBERLIN, Ohio -- Saturday's doubleheader between the Kenyon College Owls and Oberlin College Yeowomen featured two teams jockeying for position near the top of the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) softball standings, and the visiting Owls maintained their hold on third place in the polls with a split on the road. Oberlin won game one with an 8-5 comeback victory, but Kenyon answered with a 6-4 win to take the second half of the late-season twin bill.

With the game-two win, Kenyon improved to 17-19 overall and stayed a game ahead of Oberlin in the NCAC playoff picture with a 5-5 conference record. The Yeowomen are 15-13 overall after the split and slot into fourth place in the league standings with a 4-6 NCAC record. Kenyon is looking to make its first postseason appearance since 2019, and the Owls have two NCAC doubleheaders remaining as they will face the teams ranking first (DePauw University) and last (Ohio Wesleyan University) in the conference standings.

The Owls' offense was clicking early as Kenyon scored first to start both games against the Yeowomen, taking a 3-0 edge in game one and building a 6-0 lead in game two. The early offense started right at the top of Kenyon's lineup as Keala Montgomery had three hits out of the leadoff spot in each game. The junior went a whopping 6-for-9 at the plate on the day, registering four RBIs, three extra-base hits, two stolen bases, and two runs across the doubleheader.

Montgomery started the scoring in game one after a Brooke Avila RBI, and Jillian Messinger made it 2-0 when she scored on Leah Schlissberg's RBI single in the second. Unfortunately for the Owls, Oberlin erased Kenyon's strong start with a script-flipping six-spot in the second frame. The Yeowomen started the inning with five straight hits before a caught stealing marked the first out, and three more hits knocked starter Kylie Hamm out of the game before Allison McCutchen stopped the scoring and got the Owls out of the inning.

Kenyon responded with an RBI from Messinger to score Avila in the third, but Oberlin tacked on two unearned runs in the fourth frame to go ahead 8-3. Montgomery batted in Kinsey White in the fifth to pull within four runs, but both pitching staffs stalled the offenses for the rest of the game as Oberlin prevailed 8-4.

It was more of the same from Montgomery in game two as she mashed a leadoff home run to get Kenyon back on track and back in the lead. Three singles had the Owls set up in the second inning, and Montgomery made it 3-0 with a two-RBI single that scored Messinger and Madison Buckwalter. The lead increased to 4-0 in the inning thanks to a Maeve McLaughlin sac fly that scored Emma Cashell, but the Kenyon offense had more in the tank.

Avila added to the advantage with a solo homer to lead off the third inning. The homer was her third of the season, tying Montgomery for second on the team behind Leah Kuban's NCAC-leading 11 roundtrippers.

First-year pitcher Becca Boue faced just one more than the minimum nine batters while blanking the Yeowomen through three innings, and a passed ball put the Owls ahead 6-0 in the top of the fourth as Lauren Klein came around to score.

Oberlin kept battling back and scored runs in the fourth and sixth innings, and the home team had a chance late as the Yeowomen brought the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the seventh. A single, a stolen base, and an RBI double cut Kenyon's edge to 6-3, and Oberlin pulled within 6-4 after a walk and a sac fly. However, the Owls closed the door on the comeback with a timely, game-winning double play to clinch the victory.

Up next, Kenyon will welcome Ohio Wesleyan (6-22, 2-6 NCAC) to Gambier next weekend, when the Owls will celebrate their Senior Day on Saturday, April 25. First pitch of the twin bill is scheduled for 1 p.m. at Kenyon's Softball Complex.
 
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