No. 25 Wooster Clinches Top Seed in NCAC East Outright with Split at Kenyon

Baseball's a game that's known for a plethora of quirky and unique oddities, and the 25th-ranked College of Wooster baseball team certainly had one during its Wednesday afternoon split with Kenyon College at McCloskey Field in Gambier, Ohio. Kenyon snapped Wooster's nine-game winning streak with a 5-2 win before the Scots bounced back with a 9-2 victory in the nightcap.

Wooster (18-6, 9-3 North Coast Athletic Conference East Division) already clinched the top seed within the division prior to Wednesday's clash with Kenyon (4-6, 4-6 NCAC East Division), thanks to Allegheny College's (12-7, 6-4 NCAC East Division) sweep over the Lords back on April 22. Yet with the win in Wednesday's nightcap, Wooster's guaranteed to finish in sole possession of the East Division's highest winning percentage. Wooster will host the NCAC Championship Series against the top seed from the West Division at Art Murray Field. The best-of-three series is tentatively set for May 21-22, but that could change based on which team qualifies from the West Division, as NCAC policies pertaining to commencement could potentially come into play.

As to Wednesday's oddity? Well, that came in the fourth inning when Wooster scored six runs without logging a single hit, and there weren't any Kenyon fielding errors contributing to that total either. Junior centerfielder Ben Gbur was hit by a pitch, then swiped second and third to up his team lead in steals to 15. A walk issued to junior left fielder Dominic Stilliana and another plunked Wooster batter loaded the bases. Kenyon's Joel Biery's control issues continued with senior second baseman Gabe Sherman drawing a bases-loaded free pass, then senior designated hitter Zach Schuch wore a pitch, and in doing so, the local product was credited with his second career RBI. Next, Jake Davidson took over on the bump, and he couldn't find the zone either, with junior catcher Michael Thomas, junior shortstop Tyler Chumita, and junior right fielder Ben Hines all drawing bases-loaded walks before Gbur lifted a sacrifice fly out to center field to account for the final run of the inning.

Wooster tacked on two insurance runs in the seventh, with Stilliana scoring on a passed ball and Schuch plating Sherman, who reached via a one-out double, with a sacrifice fly.

Senior Steve Spidell picked up his first collegiate win. The right-hander went the distance, allowing one earned run on four hits to pair with a career-high six strikeouts.

Chumita and Sherman had two base knocks each in the finale, while Chumita and Schuch were the high players in the RBI column with two apiece.

J.J. Conway had two of Kenyon's four hits. Biery (0-1) allowed six runs on two hits in 3 1/3 innings.

Earlier on Wednesday, Kenyon played spoiler to a pair of Wooster streaks. With its win, the Lords denied the Scots the program's first 10-game winning streak under second-year head coach Barry Craddock, who picked up career win No. 200 against Kenyon back on April 18. In addition, the Lords held Hines without a hit, snapping the reigning NCAC Hitter of the Week's 21-game hitting streak. Hines did keep his reached-based streak intact with a first-inning walk.

Hits were at a premium for Wooster in Wednesday's opener, with Ayden Head allowing just two in his 6 1/3 innings of work. He did leave the door open with five walks, but the Scots were unable to cash in. In fact, neither Wooster run came via a hit, as Hines scored on a dropped fly ball in the outfield in the first inning and Sherman scored on a passed ball in the seventh.

Junior Mitchell Reardon fell to 1-1. He allowed five runs (three earned) on six hits in 5 1/3 innings. The left-hander struck out eight.

Andrew Rabinowitz carried Kenyon's offense with a 2-for-4 game that included three RBI, two runs scored, and a homer.

Next, Wooster hosts Allegheny at noon on Saturday, May 1. The Scots will honor their seven seniors prior to the game.