The Kenyon softball team played a complete spring break schedule, spanning multiple locations across the country for 10 games. After opening the season with two losses, the Owls responded by sweeping doubleheaders against Salem College (N.C.) and Guilford College (N.C.) before heading to Hawaii for tournament play at the Ulili Softball Invitational. Then, after returning to campus, the team traveled to Columbus, Ohio, to take on Capital University. The Owls narrowly lost both games, and their record currently stands at 7-7.

The Owls found their early-season form against Salem, where Kenyon won both games behind a surge in offense. In game one, the Owls erased a 3-0 deficit with a five-run sixth inning, highlighted by back-to-back home runs from Lily Colvin ’28 and Kinsey White ’28. The Owls followed with a 19-8 win in game two, finishing the day with 25 total runs scored. Kenyon carried this momentum into the next day at Guilford, winning 5-4 after a clutch five-run fifth inning in game one. Wasting no time, the Owls improved their record with a 10-2 run-rule win in game two behind consistent hitting and a complete-game mound effort from Izzy Akin ’28. Following that stretch of victories, Keala Montgomery ’27 and Akin were named NCAC Player and Pitcher of the Week, respectively. Montgomery slashed .529 over the four-game span, notching nine hits for six RBIs while also scoring six runs, all on the road, to set Kenyon’s career triples record. Akin made two pitching appearances, allowing two earned runs across seven innings and claiming her first win of the season. 

The next week in Honolulu, Hawaii, Kenyon opened with two losses to No. 19 Chapman University (Calif.), 10-0 and 15-4. The first game was decided early, while the second remained closer into the middle innings before Chapman surged out to a late lead. The Owls then split games the next day, defeating the University of Minnesota Morris 8-5 before falling 13-8 in extra innings to Occidental College (Calif.). In the loss, Kenyon erased an 8-1 deficit with a seven-run sixth inning before Occidental regained control in the eighth. 

Kenyon ended its trip with two wins, getting revenge on Occidental the next day with a 6-5 victory and then swiftly defeating Dickinson College (Penn.) 11-1. The Occidental contest went down to the wire, with Montgomery hitting a game-tying home run and Maeve McLaughlin ’26 driving in the go-ahead run. Against Dickinson, Kenyon took early command with four runs in the fourth inning before tacking on six more in the fifth to secure the run-rule win. 

On Wednesday, the Owls traveled to face Capital, getting off to a quick start with their bats. Two RBIs from Peyton Green ’29 and one each from McLaughlin, Leah Schlissberg ’29 and Kuban in the first two innings gave Kenyon a 5-0 advantage. However, Capital stormed back to tie the game in the fourth. Kuban and Jillian Messinger ’26 retaliated with RBIs to retake the lead, but that was as far as the Owls would get, and the Comets scored four straight runs to put them out of Kenyon’s reach with a 9-8 win.

Kenyon got off to a slow start in game two, as Capital jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the second inning. The Owls responded swiftly, however, as Messinger grounded out to drive in Kuban, before a Comets throwing error scored two Kenyon runs. Then, Schlissberg scored Montgomery on a groundout to cushion the Owls’ lead. The advantage did not hold, though, and Capital exploded for three runs in the ninth to send Kenyon to a 5-4 heartbreaking loss.

On Saturday, the Owls will travel to Bluffton College for a doubleheader, continuing preparation for conference play, with their home opener against Otterbein University slated for Sunday. During the offseason, Kenyon has been in the process of installing a new turf field, with the completion scheduled for Friday, just in time for Sunday’s game.