Baldwin-Wallace College sophomore center fielder Cody Kidd went on a bruise binge last week, getting hit by a pitch four times and setting a school record that only a lead-off hitter could love — a dozen beanings in a single season.
Kidd’s binge started a week ago last Thursday when he was hit twice in the Yellow Jackets’ 21–2 blowout of Myers University. Two days later, in the first game of a doubleheader against Wilmington College, he was hit again, tying the record of 11 HBPs set by last year’s lead-off hitter, Kevin Brown.
He broke the record on Saturday when he was plunked by Ohio Northern University southpaw Scott Bruckman to lead off the first game of a doubleheader sweep in Ada. After taking his record-setting base, he promptly stole second, advanced to third on a throwing error, and then scored on a sacrifice fly ball. He scored the Jackets’ only other run after singling to lead off the third inning, and they went on to win 2–0. In the nightcap, he scored one of B-W‘s three runs himself and knocked in the other two with a game-winning, two-out triple in the fifth inning.
Kidd has been getting on and around the bases for the Jackets all season. He’s hitting .368 and leads the team with a .473 on-base percentage, 42 runs scored, four triples and 16 stolen bases in 17 attempts. He’s also tied with sophomore first baseman Riley Kreisher for the team home run crown with three apiece.
His 42 runs are five shy of Paul Farrah’s school record of 47 set in 1988, and his four triples are just one off the mark set by Pat George in 1976 and matched by Pete Rowe in 2002.
