Series Stats vs. Kenyon (PDF)

Oberlin, Ohio – The Oberlin College baseball team moved into sole possession of second place in the North Coast Athletic Conference East Division, finishing off a four-game series sweep of Kenyon College by taking both ends of Sunday's doubleheader by the scores of 6-2 and 3-1.
 
The Yeomen won have now won six straight to move above .500 at 16-15 and more importantly rest at 7-5 in the league with a critical four-game set with Allegheny on the horizon at home next weekend. The Yeomen will carry a 6-2 home record into those games.
 
Game one was tied at 2-2 heading into the bottom of the fourth inning until junior Jack Brewster picked no better time to belt his first-career home run as he lifted a two-out grand slam over the wall in left center for what proved to be the game-winning runs.
 
Earlier in the contest with a 2-0 Yeomen lead in hand, sophomore southpaw Zachary Steer was in an apparent jam in the third with two on and nobody out, but in a blink of an eye the Yeomen were back in the dugout as the Lords' Matt Von Roemer hit into what would have been a traditional 6-4-3 double play, but Max Warren rounded third and got caught napping as Yeomen first baseman Quin Butler got the ball to Steer who noticed Warren off the bag and he fired a strike to Ian Dinsmore at third to complete the triple play.
 
The first two Yeomen runs came in the bottom of the second on a sac fly to right by Butler and a first-and-third double steal play where Parker Goldstein raced home while Brendan Mapes intentionally got hung up in a rundown.
 
The first four Lords hitters would reach in the fourth with Phillip Nam and Matt Contreras each registering RBI's to tie the game.
 
After the big four-run blow by Brewster, neither team would be able to scratch out another run. Steer would get throw seven innings, scattering nine hits and a walk to go along with three punchouts as he moved to 4-1 on the season.
 
Nicholas Morgan worked 1.2 innings of no-hit ball, mixing in one walk before giving way to Charlie Goetz, but walked the only batter he faced in the ninth, forcing Head Coach Adrian Abrahamowicz to go his closer Milo Sklar for the one-out save. He would need just two pitches, inducing a game-ending ground out with runners on first and second.
 
Oberlin had eight hits in the game with Brian Carney and Mike Masella leading the way with two each.
 
Sophomore pitcher Noah Gear was outstanding in the nightcap as he worked 7.1 innings, allowing just five hits, two walks and one run en route to moving to 4-1 on the season. He threw 51 strikes on 83 pitches.
 
The Yeomen would stake him to an early 2-0 lead, plating a pair in the bottom of the first on a two-out two-run double to left by Butler that sent Carney and Mapes across the dish.
 
From that point on, Kenyon's Will Oakley matched Gear pitch-for-pitch, but in the end he was the hard-luck loser after working 7.2 innings of six-hit ball. He walked three and all three Yeomen runs were charged to his line.
 
The string of zeros on the board for both sides was snapped in the top of the eighth as an infield single coupled with a throwing error allowed Gaige Howard to score and shrink the Yeomen lead down to 2-1.
 
Oakley would depart with runners on the corners with two away in the eighth as left-hander Luke Calcei was brought on to face the left-handed-hitting Carney. However, that move backfired as he ripped the first pitch he saw into right field that allowed Dinsmore to trot home for an all-important insurance run.
 
In the top of the ninth the situation got very worrisome for Sklar and the Yeomen as the first three Lords' hitters would reach to load the bases. However, he was able to record a big strikeout of pinch hitter Cormac Jewell before inducing a game-ending 1-2-3 double play against Jono Chafe to secure his second save of the day and third of the series.
 
Oberlin had 36 hits over the four games, with Carney leading the charge by going 8-of-16 with a home run, triple, seven RBI, and five runs scored. Butler and Dinsmore also had four hits each on the weekend.
 
The Yeomen will be back in action on Wednesday afternoon as they travel south to take on Marietta College in a mid-week doubleheader.  First pitch of game one is set for 4 p.m.