Box Score

ERIE, Pa. – The Allegheny baseball squad looked to make it 10 in a row Tuesday afternoon, as they traveled north to take on the Lions of Penn State-Behrend. The Gators got a quality start from Brandon Ellis and received clutch hits down the stretch to outlast the Lions 5-3.  

Once again Allegheny drew first blood, plating two in the top of the third to take a 2-0 lead. It started with a single by Jeff Dassner, for the Gators first hit of the afternoon. Kyle Davis moved him over to second with a perfectly placed sacrifice bunt, and Aaron Lynch got him to third with a single of his own.

Lynch wasted no time stealing his third base of the season, setting Eric Hansen up with two runners in scoring position. Hansen delivered with a two-out, two-RBI single to center putting Allegheny up by two.

Both Ellis and Penn State-Behrend starter Justin Wood had fantastic control on the mound as runs were few and far between. Ellis would toss 5.2 innings, scattering six hits, giving up just one earned run while striking out four.

Hansen continued the fireworks in the top of the sixth; channeling his inner Benny “The Jet” Rodriguez, by completing the most exciting play in baseball. After reaching on an error by Wood, Hansen motored his way into scoring position getting all the way around to third base. That's when Allegheny's resident speedster took matters into his own hands and stole home to give the Gators a 3-1 cushion.

The run would prove to be huge, as Penn State-Behrend scored two in the bottom half of the inning making it just a one run contest.

A Lynch single in the eighth and a Mike Kastelic sac fly in the ninth plated one run each as the Gators looked to be in control heading to the bottom of the ninth. The Allegheny defense made things interesting, letting an unearned run cross home plate; but Erie native Paul Vojtek locked things up with his third save of the season and Allegheny came away with the 5-3 victory.

Six Gators combined for eight hits, including Dassner and Lynch who recorded two each. Lynch, Hansen (2) and Kastelic drove in the runs for Allegheny as they won their 10 straight contest after starting the season 5-15.

The Gators will be off until Saturday, April 21 when they travel to the campus of Kenyon College to take on the Lords in the first of two back-to-back double headers. First pitch is scheduled for 12:00 pm.