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| Chandler Dippman |
The 10th-ranked College of Wooster baseball team was kept in check all game long, and host Kenyon College took game two of the season series 6-1 on Sunday afternoon at McCloskey Field in Gambier, Ohio.
Wooster (24-10, 13-3 North Coast Athletic Conference) skirted around some early traffic on the bases, as senior Brian Murray (3-2) started an inning-ending 1-6-3 double play in the first inning and went on to strike out a pair of Kenyon (21-16, 8-10 NCAC) hitters to get out of a second-inning jam.
Joaquin Murrieta's fourth-inning poke plated the game's first run, and the Lords tacked on a second one in the fifth when Patrick O'Leary beat a throw out for an infield single. Kenyon would've extended its lead even more in the sixth if it wasn't for the fine play of senior Chandler Dippman at third base. The Scots' utility ace was already drifting toward the bag with two Lords off and running on a payoff pitch from sophomore Jay DiBacco. That momentum enabled Dippman to extend just enough to rob Ryan Page of a likely two-out, two-run single.
Junior Harry Witwer-Dukes breathed a bit of life into Wooster's offense with a one-out single in the seventh. He eventually scored when sophomore pinch hitter Noah Clement ripped a double to left field. Wooster threatened for more and had the bases loaded, but Zach Elsawy escaped without further damage.
Kenyon tacked on four runs in the eight, with Page's bases-clearing three-bagger putting the game out of reach.
Charlie Bailey (2-2) picked up the win after allowing one run on two hits in 4 1/3 innings of relief. Elsawy collected his first save of the year after steering the Lords across the finish with 2 1/3 innings of perfect relief.
Wooster mustered just three hits in the game, while Dippman was the lone Scot to reach safely twice with a pair of walks.
Page emerged as the offensive hero with two hits and the three RBI on his eighth-inning triple.
Wooster's next slated to be in action at the North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament, which starts Thursday, May 9, and will be held at VA Memorial Stadium in Chillicothe, Ohio. More information on the NCAC Tournament will be released as it becomes available.