Wabash stranded 19 baserunners and lost two leads Wednesday afternoon against Kenyon College's baseball team in a doubleheader in Xenia, Ohio. The Little Giants fell 7-2 in game one and 7-4 in game two. The Little Giants compounded their problems in the non-conference contest against the North Coast Athletic Conference Eastern Division team with 12 walks issued to the Lords in 13 innings.
Wabash took a 1-0 lead in the first game when leadoff hitter Brian Lares belted his first career homer over the left field fence of the Athletes In Action Complex in Xenia. Kenyon answered with two runs in the second, but the Little Giants tied the game when David Seibel led off the bottom of the second with a single and eventual scored on a Chris Deig groundout.
The Little Giants could not keep Kenyon from hitting the long ball to take the lead. The Lords came into the contest with only one home run. Wabash surrenedered three homers --- a two-run shot in the second, a three-run homer in the third, and another two-run blast in the fourth. Seven walks helped put runners on base, as Kenyon managed just one other hit in the game on a bunt single.
Wabash had chances to try and cut into the lead, but stranded five baserunners in the sixth and seventh after seeing a leadoff single by Deig in the fifth erased on a double-play ground ball.
Seibel collected three of Wabash's nine hits in the first game to pace the effort. Craig Austin started and took the loss after working three innings with three hits, five runs, four walks, and four strikeouts. Patrick McCarley worked an inning of relief with two runs on one hit and three walks and a strikeout, while freshman Jeff Soller pitched a scoreless three innings to finish the game while striking out three.
The Little Giants took a 2-0 lead in the second game when Matt Dodaro launched his 20th career home run over the left field fence, moving him to within one homer of tying Matt Wilhelm and Mike Mack for first place on the Little Giant career list. Tanner Coggins followed with a double, scoring two batters later on an RBI single by Derek Bailey. Dodaro scored again in the third, reaching on an error before scoring on a second miscue in a rundown attempt by the Lords.
Wabash failed to hold the lead once again when Kenyon exploded for five runs on six hits in the bottom of the third to pull in front 6-1 before adding a final run in the fifth on a bases-loaded balk. Once again the Little Giants had opportunities to add to their score, but left 11 runners on base including back-to-back innings with the bases loaded.
Jake Thomas, Dodaro, Coggins, and Bailey each had two hits to pace the Wabash effort. Dodaro's three hits for the day give him 161 for his career, putting him five away from tying Jay Dee Flynn for the all-time hits lead. Luke Zinsmaster took the loss, pitching 2-2/3 innings as the starter with six runs, six hits, three walks, and two strikeouts. Pete Schmith threw 1-1/3 innings of shutout baseball while Keegan Leckrone held the Lords scoreless in the final inning. Brian Van Duyn gave up one run in one inning on the mound.
Wabash (5-9, 2-2 NCAC West) returns to divisional conference play this weekend with a four-game series at Wittenberg beginning at 1 p.m. Saturday.