Kyle Cunningham-Rhoads

WOOSTER, Ohio – Kyle Cunningham-Rhoads gave The College of Wooster eight strong innings en route to a 8-1 game-two victory Saturday afternoon, as the Fighting Scots earned a split in their North Coast Athletic Conference East Division debut for 2012. Kenyon College took the opener by an 8-5 score at Art Murray Field.

Cunningham-Rhoads cruised through the Kenyon (14-6, 3-1 NCAC East) lineup the first six innings, giving up just a single and overcoming a pair of errors by his defense. He ran into a little trouble in the seventh as runners were on second and third with one out, but got out of the jam when third baseman Zack Vesco snagged a liner and tagged the base for a double play.

The shutout bid came to an end in the eighth, as the Lords put one on the board on a two-out base knock, but Cunningham-Rhoads had enough offensive support to improve to 3-1 on the season. The eight innings matched a career high he set earlier this year.

At the plate, Wooster (10-6, 1-1 NCAC East) tallied single runs in the second, fourth, fifth, and sixth innings before putting away Kenyon with a four-run eighth. Michael DeBord picked up an RBI on a fielder's choice when the Lords attempted to gun down Billy Farrow, who had opened the second with a single, at the plate, and DeBord scored via a Ryan Miner single in the fourth.

Johnathan Ray drove a one-out double to the wall in center during the fifth and came around on a Vesco single for a more comfortable 3-0 lead. A sharply-hit, two-out single up the middle by Zac Mathie in the sixth gave the Scots a fourth run.

Wooster's four-run eighth was highlighted by an odd play that saw Eddie Reese wind up with an inside-the-park home run. Reese drove one to the wall in right where the ball nestled in between the wind screen and the fence, and Kenyon's right fielder raised his arms up in the air, thinking it was a ground-rule double. He then reached in to get the ball before the field umpire made a ruling, and running all the way, Reese was able to beat the eventual throw to the plate for his fifth homer in six games.

In the opener, Wooster tallied single runs during the second and third innings. The first came on a sacrifice fly, as Bryan Miller skied a ball down the left-field line that the Kenyon shortstop tracked down but Ray was able to score from third on the play. In the third, Reese stroked a double to the wall in right and the relay throw got away from the Lords, allowing Miner to score.

Jack Graham suddenly gave Kenyon the lead when he drove an inside pitch just inside the left-field foul pole for a three-run homer during the fourth, but it was short lived as the Scots plated two in the bottom of the frame. Miller lined a double down the right-field line and scored on DeBord's single to center. DeBord gave Wooster the 4-3 advantage when Miner hit a hard single to left.

The back-and-forth battle continued in the fifth. The Lords took advantage of a Scot error, tallying three unearned runs to go ahead 6-4, then the Scots got one back as Ray doubled and Farrow singled him home to start the inning, but they could do no further damage.

Nate Lotze homered off the scoreboard in right for two Kenyon insurance runs in the sixth, and the visitors went on to secure the first game.

Overall, Reese and Ray each produced five hits on the day, going 5-for-9 and 5-for-8, respectively, while Farrow registered four in seven at bats. Miner went 3-for-8 and he was one of two Wooster players to record an RBI in each game, with DeBord being the other.

Kyle Hardacker had four hits (4-for-8) to pace the Lords, and Tyler Dierke was the winning pitcher (5-1) of game one after yielding three earned runs over 5.1 innings, with Alex Kendall earning a save.

The two teams will complete their four-game NCAC divisional set on Sunday, starting at noon.