WMVO Good Times Great Oldies
FORT PIERCE, Fla.– The Kenyon College baseball team had the perfect recipe for a big win over Gettysburg College (2-8). The Owls fired up some immediate offense, mixed in a career game from Jackson Yelland, and sprinkled run support and strong defense throughout. All that led to Kenyon serving up a 9-0 shutout against the Bullets, which moved the Owls to 9-2 with a fifth straight win.
Kenyon’s offense jumped all over Gettysburg in the top of the first. Nate Rosen, Drew Robinson, Malcolm Gaynor, and Edwin Groff led off the inning with four straight hits, and each player came around to score. Robinson, Gaynor, and Tripper Capps each batted in a run as the Owls took a quick 4-0 lead.
The Gettysburg pitcher and defense settled in from then on out, keeping Kenyon off the board over the next three innings while allowing just two hits. Yelland and the Owls’ defense were dialed in as well, however, and they made the Bullets fire blanks. Yelland, who came into the game with a 9.00 ERA and zero strikeouts in two appearances this season after a 22.50 ERA in two innings in 2023, struck out 10 batters and allowed just three hits over seven innings pitched.
One of those hits came in the fourth, a lazy fly ball to left field that got lost in the sun and landed for a double. Still, Yelland stayed locked in, ringing up two batters to strike out the side. The senior shattered his career-best strikeout total, surpassing the three he threw down here in Florida two springs ago in 2022. Additionally, Yelland’s 7.0 innings pitched are far and away a career-high, breaking his previous best of 2.2.
The Owls got back on track offensively in the fifth inning, singling twice and working three walks. Groff drove in a run on an RBI groundout ahead of a Gettysburg pitching change. Capps welcomed the new pitcher with a single to load the bases, and Luke Meister promptly worked a five-pitch walk to pick up an RBI and keep the bases juiced. However, the Bullets got out of the jam with two strikeouts as Kenyon left three Owls on the pond after pushing two runs across.
Gettysburg got out of more trouble in the next inning when they kept the bases full of Kenyon players yet again in the sixth to maintain the 6-0 margin. Yelland kept the outs coming on the other side, though, producing another 1-2-3 inning.
Kenyon increased its lead with two runs in the seventh and one more in the eighth. Robinson hit an RBI single, and Stephen Carr came home on a throw in the seventh before picking up an RBI in the eighth.
Robinson had a fantastic day at the plate, going 4-for-4 and reaching safely all five times. The senior stole three bases and tallied two runs, two RBIs, a double, and a walk, boosting his batting average to .366.
Gaynor (3-for-6), Meister (2-for-4), and Carr (2-for-5) each notched multi-hit games and Gaynor came around to score twice. Two Kenyon relievers contributed to the combined shutout, with Jack Enger and Noah Rosenberg each recording three outs. Rosenberg was great, ringing up two Bullets batters on punchouts.
The Owls have a day to rest up before playing doubleheaders on back-to-back days to end their spring break slate at the Lawnwood Baseball Complex. Kenyon takes on Monmouth College on Wednesday, March 13, and Western Connecticut State on Thursday, March 14.
