MEADVILLE, Pa. – The Allegheny College baseball team split a North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) double-header this afternoon, taking the first game from Hiram College, 6-0, before falling in the nightcap, 11-7.
Allegheny (10-11, 3-3 NCAC) had little trouble in the first game as
Chase Boyer provided his team with his second seven-inning complete game of the season. Boyer struck out 10 Hiram (4-18, 1-7 NCAC) batters and didn't allow a free pass, with his only blemishes coming courtesy of four singles.
The Terriers threatened in the top of the first when a fielder's choice and catcher's interference put two on with two out. Brandon Chesmar looped a single into left field, but Bryan Engdahl was cut down at home after a strong throw by
Robert DiMaggio.
Boyer had a much easier time in the second inning, generating two swinging strikeouts with a fielding error providing the only runner.
The Gators scored one in the bottom half to take a 1-0 lead.
Tyler Wagner led the frame off with a walk and moved to second on a
Dan Bonnett sacrifice bunt. Wagner stole third with
Jacob Shick at the dish, and Shick brought him in with a groundball to third base.
Allegheny tacked on four runs in the bottom of the third.
Austin Bristol began the stanza by reaching on an error, then moved to third following a
Cullen Flaherty single. Flaherty advanced to second on another Hiram mishap, putting him in position for a two-run base hit by
Ethan Pawlak. DiMaggio then followed that up with a towering blast to left, giving the junior his second homerun in as many days.
Boyer sat down two more batters in the fourth and one of the fifth, all of which came from swings and misses. In the bottom half of the latter inning, DiMaggio smacked a one-out double but was caught stealing third just moments before
Joe Killian jumped on a breaking ball and rode it out for a solo round-tripper.
The visitors had runners on the corners in top of the sixth, but Brandon Kish caught nothing but air on three pitches to retire the side.
Boyer picked his double-digit strikeout to open the seventh, sitting down Preston Patterson with a 2-2 fastball. The junior then generated a pop-up to get the second out, and finished off his gem with a flyout to right.
Of Boyer's 10 strikeouts, nine came off of swings as the right-hander registered 23 whiffs overall.
A five-run sixth and a four-run ninth gave Hiram an 11-9 victory in the second game.
The Gators jumped on top early, tallying two in the first and third along with a run in the second. DiMaggio reached on an error and Wagner ripped a double to left to give the Gators their first two runs, then Flaherty added his own RBI double in the second frame. Wagner struck again in the third, smacking a two-run homer to left to make it 5-0 after three.
The Terriers began chipping away in the fourth with a Brian Fryda RBI single before getting five in the top of the sixth. Chesmar began the rally with a RBI infield base hit and turned it over to Phil Ward and Trevor Foster, who ripped back-to-back two-run doubles to put Hiram up front, 6-5.
Allegheny generated the tying run in the bottom of the sixth, starting with a lead-off single by Shick. He advanced to second on an Orr sacrifice bunt, then crossed home plate with an
Andrew Dawson base hit.
After a scoreless seventh, Hiram regained the lead in the top of the eighth with a Ward RBI single. That lead didn't last long however, as
Shea Beaumont swung at the first pitch he saw as a pinch-hitter, smacking a moon shot to right that knotted the contest up at 8-8.
Hiram loaded the bases with one out in the ninth, looking for the game-winning run. The visitors got that and then some insurance, scoring courtesy of a walk, stolen base, and two-run single.
Robert Julian started for the Gators in the second game, allowing four runs in 5.1 innings of work. Julian gave up seven hits and four walks, countering that with a trio of strikeouts.
Joe Nagel took the loss after being on the hook for three runs in the ninth inning. Ryan Fedor threw two shutout frames for the Terriers to pick up the win.
Allegheny completes its series with Hiram tomorrow, starting with game one of a double-header at noon.
