Evan Faxon

Nick Strausbaugh

Sophomore Evan Faxon worked into the ninth inning in his top collegiate outing, and junior Nick Strausbaugh's one-out, third-inning dinger held as the game's lone run, as the 10th-ranked College of Wooster baseball team topped host Kenyon College on Saturday afternoon at McCloskey Field in Gambier, Ohio.

Wooster (24-9, 13-2 North Coast Athletic Conference) and Kenyon (20-16, 7-10 NCAC) were originally slated to play two games on Saturday, but due to inclement weather, game two has been pushed back to Sunday, May 5. First pitch is currently scheduled for 2 p.m.

Faxon (5-1) hit his spots all day long, and coupled with Kenyon's eagerness at the dish, needed just 87 pitches to get through 8 1/3 shutout innings. The southpaw retired 15 of the first 16 batters he faced with eight of the outs coming on three pitches or less.

Kenyon's Jake Brown led off the sixth with just the second hit of the game, and Wooster caught a big break when he tried to advance to third on first baseman Garrett Crum's error. Crum recovered in time to throw across the diamond with senior Chandler Dippman applying the tag.

Sophomore Andrew Hill took over with one out and a Lord on second base in the ninth. The Scots' right-hander was on point and had the Lords fishing at his pitches. Unfortunately, that resulted in the tying run advancing to third when a third strike squeaked by junior catcher Dan Gail, but Hill stayed poised and a grounder to senior shortstop Jacob Stuursma resulted in the game-ending fielder's choice.

Wooster by far had the better looks at the plate, as the Scots out-hit the Lords 8-3 and had eight other base runners, with five walks and three hit by pitches. However, runs were at a premium, as the Scots stranded 13 on the bases.

Strausbaugh took matters into his own hands in the third inning with a blast out to left field that marked his team-high eighth round-tripper of the year. The Scots' left fielder was one of three players in the game with multiple hits with first-year Ben Gbur and Kenyon's Brown matching Strausbaugh for the game high.

Wooster had several key defensive plays in the game, most notably a loud fly ball out in the seventh that was tracked down by Gbur on the warning track.

With game two now taking place on Sunday, plus DePauw University pushing today's twin bill with Allegheny College back, the Scots games against the Tigers have been cancelled.