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NEW CONCORD, Ohio — A seven-run fifth inning Tuesday evening at Muskingum University launched the Kenyon College baseball team to a 9-6 non-conference victory over the host Fighting Muskies.
Holding a 2-1 advantage going into that fifth inning, the Owls scored seven times on just four hits. Malcolm Gaynor led off with a double and Edwin Groff walked. Muskingum then removed starting pitcher Lane Goetz. When Jason Murphy took over on the mound, he walked Tripper Capps to load the bases.
That brought Kyle Dwyer to the plate. Sitting on a modest five-game hit streak, Dwyer extended it to six with a two-run single. A sacrifice bunt moved the runners up a bag, but that proved unnecessary, as the next batter, first-year Niko Price, belted a home run to left field, giving Kenyon a 7-1 lead.
As the inning continued, Ben Zimmerman singled up the middle and Drew Robinson coaxed a walk. Nate Rosen also drew a walk and Murphy was replaced on the mound by Christopher Brison. Gaynor, who led off the inning, greeted Brison with a drive to the left field wall. Muskingum’s Ethan Guilliams was there to match the catch, but in doing so, he crashed into the fence and fell down. That allowed two Kenyon runners to score on the sacrifice fly and gave the Owls a 9-1 advantage.
Back in the second inning, the Owls scored their other two runs on sacrifice flies from Zimmerman and Rosen. In all, Kenyon scored its nine runs on seven hits, seven walks, and three sacrifice flies.
The Fighting Muskies, who had 10 hits and drew just one walk, didn’t fade away. They scored twice in both the sixth and eighth innings, and in between those, they tacked on a solo run in the seventh. That made it a three-run game. Kenyon’s Noah Rosenberg, the team’s ninth pitcher of the game, dialed up two strikeouts in the final inning and earned the save.
Theo Canning, who pitched the second inning, when Kenyon took the lead for good, was credited with the win. He improved to 4-2.
Dwyer, who finished 2-for-5 with two runs and two RBI, was the only Kenyon player with a multi-hit game.
The win bumped the Owls’ overall record to 17-12, while the loss dropped Muskingum to 18-15.
