MEADVILLE, Pa. – The Allegheny College baseball team celebrated an early Meadville spring by opening the 2016 season with a 7-0 shutout victory over John Carroll University this afternoon.
Junior right-hander
Chase Boyer – an All-North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) First Team honoree from a year ago – earned the Opening Day start and rewarded the Allegheny (1-0, 0-0 NCAC) coaching staff with possibly his best outing to date. Boyer struck out a career-high 11 batters and allowed just five baserunners (2 hits, 2 walks, 1 hit-by-pitch) in 6.1 scoreless innings.
Junior leftfielder
Robert DiMaggio was one of four Gators with multiple hits on the afternoon as the Industry, Pa. native went 4-for-5 with two runs batted in from the two-hole. Senior third baseman
Joe Killian followed DiMaggio up with three hits in his five trips to the plate, while sophomore designated hitter
Dan Bonnett and freshman second baseman
Austin Bristol each collected a pair of hits.
After Boyer carved up the top of John Carroll's (5-4, 0-0 OAC) lineup with two punchouts and a groundout, the Gators jumped on the visitors with four runs in the bottom of the first inning.
DiMaggio and Killian opened the frame by roping one-out singles before sophomore first baseman
Tyler Wagner drew a seven-pitch walk to load the bases for junior shortstop
Jacob Shick. Shick brought in DiMaggio with a single, then Bonnett followed that up with a two-run base hit through the right side. Hustle provided the fourth run as Shick, already off and running on a called hit-and-run, used his wheels to score from second on a groundout from sophomore centerfielder
Cullen Flaherty.
Boyer picked up two more strikeouts in the second inning and the home team added some cushion with another run in the bottom half. DiMaggio reached base with a single through the left side and stole second quickly after. After Killian ripped a single to right field to advance DiMaggio to third, the junior raced home after the relay throw was dropped by the Blue Streaks' catcher.
The teams traded 1-2-3 innings in the third and Boyer added another perfect frame with two strikeouts and a lineout in the fourth. Allegheny added another insurance run on its next trip to the dish thanks to a DiMaggio infield single. Bristol roped a double down the leftfield line with one out and fellow freshman
Ethan Pawlak followed that up with a seven-pitch walk, setting the stage for the aforementioned hit.
A bang-bang play at first base gave John Carroll its first baserunner in the top of the fifth. Boyer put a second duck on the pond with a hit-by-pitch, but the junior settled down and escaped with no damage thanks to a punchout and a popout to first.
The Blue Streaks' John Bondi reached base on a walk in the top of the sixth and looked to spark a rally. Junior catcher
Patrick Orr had other ideas however, as he gunned down Bondi following a Rob Cifelli strikeout to remove the JCU threat. Boyer completed the inning with his 10th strikeout of the afternoon and picked up his 11th in the seventh after a double from David Crowley.
A second baserunner completed Boyer's outing and gave way to classmate and fellow All-NCAC honoree
Robert Julian. Julian was able to get out of the jam, getting two fielder's choices to keep a zero on the visitors' half of the scoreboard.
Julian began the eighth inning with two groundouts before allowing a single to Cifelli. Orr again was given a chance to showcase his arm and he made the most of it, cutting down Cifelli with a strong throw to keep it at 6-0.
The Gators added one more run in the bottom of the eighth as DiMaggio's single to center scored Bristol.
Freshman right-hander
Wyatt Sibiga made his collegiate debut in the final frame, stranding two baserunners with a lineout, strikeout, and groundout.
Brandon Maddern took the loss for the Blue Streaks after giving up four runs to open the contest.
Allegheny completes a brief two-game homestand at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, March 12 when it hosts Fredonia State.
