GAMBIER, Ohio – For the second year in a row, The College of Wooster baseball team and Kenyon College brought the drama to game two of their North Coast Athletic Conference doubleheader, which ended in a 4-4 tie due to darkness after the 13th inning on Sunday at McCloskey Field. Kenyon took game one 5-0.
Wooster (22-15-1, 11-4-1 North Coast Athletic Conference) loaded the bases in the top of the 12th inning on walks issued to senior right fielder Alex Gerdenich, junior catcher Colin Leslie, and senior center fielder Leo Widtmann. Junior first baseman Ryan Kramer cleared the bases with a go-ahead three-run double to left field.
In the bottom of the inning, sophomore right-hander Ben Tarpey struck out Kenyon's (15-15-1, 8-7-1 NCAC) Ben Resnick and Will Gibbs before weather forced a delay. Upon resumption, the Owls rallied, getting a three-run homer from Nate Rosen that tied the game at four.
In the 13th, Luke Meister lifted a one-out double to left center. However, he was left stranded in scoring position, as Resnick struck out for the second time in extra innings, then Will Nelson flied out to Widtmann.
Wooster tied Sunday's nightcap at one in the top of the seventh inning. An errant pickoff throw from Theo Canning enabled senior left fielder Nick Pett to score from third. Pett drew a leadoff walk, stole second, and moved to third in a single to right center off the bat of first-year shortstop Luke Rizzo.
Looking back, the game had a similar feel to the 2024 doubleheader, which saw Wooster rally for a six-run eighth inning to take a 10-9 win on a walk-off hit-by-pitch. The game was called for darkness following then-first-year first baseman Zack Barienbrock getting hit by a pitch with the bases loaded just before 8 p.m.
In game one, Kenyon's Frank Lynch (5-3) and Christian Harris (save two) combined for a three-hit shutout. Wooster needed to manage its pitching staff with the upcoming NCAC Tournament. Junior Jack Spring (4-3) started and allowed a run on three hits in four innings. Gerdenich pitched two innings of shutout relief.
Rizzo had three hits on the day to lead Wooster's offense. Dustin Lee went 4-for-9 for Kenyon.
Wooster's most recent tie was a 6-6 final in 10 innings against the University of Mount Union on April 25, 2023. This is just the second tie for Wooster's baseball program since 1997.
Next, Wooster heads to VA Memorial Stadium in Chillicothe, Ohio for the double-elimination NCAC Tournament, which starts on Thursday, May 8. Wooster is the fourth seed based on conference winning percentage of all completed conference games and will take on No. 4 Denison University (32-5, 14-1 NCAC) at noon. Wabash College (27-13, 12-4 NCAC) and Wittenberg University (28-10, 11-4 NCAC) meet in Thursday's other opening-day game.
