Kenyon College Outlasts Baseball, 10-8

FORT MYERS, Fla. – Elms College sophomore first baseman Anthony Pagano (Cranston, R.I.) was 4 for 5 at the dish with two RBI and a pair of runs scored, but Kenyon College came away with a 10-8 victory in Monday's baseball game during Gene Cusic Classic action in Fort Myers, Fla.

With the loss, Elms moves to 1-4 on the season, while Kenyon improves to 8-4 overall.

With the score knotted at 1-1 after the first inning of play, Kenyon scored two runs in the top of the second on a two-run double by Jake Dunn (Fairfield, Conn.) to post a 3-1 lead.

Elms answered in the bottom of the inning when freshman designated hitter Brady Forrest (Hampden, Mass.) reached on an error allowing senior catcher Rey Rivera (San Juan, Puerto Rico) to score from third, pulling the Blazers to within one at 3-2.

Kenyon extended its lead to 4-2 in the top of the third before Elms responded with a two-run home half of the inning as senior left fielder Donny Morse (Alfred, Maine) blasted a two-run double down the left field line tying the game at 4-4.

Kenyon scored twice in the top of the fourth and twice more in the top of the sixth on a two-run homer by Dunn to stake an 8-4 advantage.

The Blazers rallied and crossed the plate three times in the bottom of the sixth thanks to a run-scoring walk with the bases loaded issued to sophomore right fielder Alex King (Lebanon, Conn.) and a two-run base hit by Pagano through the right side to set the score at 8-7.

Kenyon used the long ball to extend its lead back to three (10-7) when Nate Lotze (Littleton, Co.) cracked a two-run shot to right field in the top of the eighth.

In the bottom of the ninth, Morse reached base on a dropped fly ball and raced to third on the play, before an RBI groundout by Rivera allowed him to come full circle, pulling Elms to within two at 10-8.

From there, Josh Jacobvitz (New York, N.Y.) who entered with one out in the sixth inning, forced a groundout to end the game and earn his second save of the season.

Alex Kendall (Litchfield, Conn.) earned the win pitching the first 5.1 innings to improve to 1-1 overall, while Elms' starting right-hander Curtis LeBeau (Auburn, Mass.) suffered the loss to fall to 0-2 on the season.

Forrest cracked two hits and was the only other Elms batter to record multiple hits in the game behind Pagano's four, while Pagano and Morse each drove in two runs in the loss.

Dunn, Jesse Weiss (Los Angeles, Calif.) and Mike Danziger (Cleveland Heights, Ohio) each notched three hits in the game, while Dunn drove in four runs and Lotze registered three RBI.

Elms is off on Tuesday and will return to Cusic Classic action on Wednesday, March 14 with a 10:00 a.m. game against St. Lawrence University and a 1:00 p.m. game versus the University of Dubuque.