GRANVILLE, Ohio – In a pair of games decided in the late innings, the Allegheny baseball team split its season-ending North Coast Athletic Conference crossover doubleheader at Denison.
 
In the opener, a game that was picked up in the fifth inning after being suspended 20 hours earlier due to rain,  Allegheny (23-17, 8-11 NCAC) scored twice in the top of the ninth to come back for a 7-6 victory. In a back-and-forth nightcap, Denison (29-10, 13-6 NCAC) scored the winning run with two outs in the bottom of the 11th for a 9-8 walkoff victory.
 
GAME ONE – ALLEGHENY 7, DENISON 6
Prior to the suspension due to heavy rains in Granville on Saturday, the opportunistic Gators took advantage of a number of Big Red miscues to take a 3-0 lead in the top of the second.
 
Jacob Shick led off with a single to left, before Ethan Pawlak reached on an error and Noah Shannon walked to load the bases. With Shea Beaumont batting, Denison starter John Troll uncorked a wild pitch to plate Shick with the game's first run. Beaumont was retired by a ground out, bringing home Pawlak, before Dan Bonnett followed suit with an RBI groundout to plate Shannon and give the Gators a 3-0 lead.
 
Gator starter Chase Boyer would retire six straight batters before being forced to pitch out of a jam in the bottom of the fourth, as a walk, double, and another free pass would load the bases with two outs. Boyer would get out of trouble by inducing an inning-ending flyout to maintain the three-run lead as the skies opened to force the game's suspension.
 
Upon the resumption of play, the Big Red came out hot, sending eight men to the plate in the bottom of the fifth to score four runs on four hits.  The hosts then added onto the lead with one more run in the bottom of the sixth to make it 5-3.
 
The Gators answered right back in the top half of the sixth. Brandon Pouch led off with a double and Chase Davis singled, before Robert DiMaggio's bunt was thrown away, plating both Pouch and Davis and tying the game at 5-all.
 
The score remained deadlocked until the top of the ninth, when the Gators put together the eventual game-winning rally. DiMaggio walked and Shick was hit by a pitch, and Pawlak followed with a sacrifice bunt to put both men in scoring position. After pinch hitter Cullen Flaherty was intentionally walked to load the bases, a wild pitch brought home DiMaggio with the go-ahead run. Beaumont would then give the Gators a much-needed insurance run with an RBI single up the middle to plate Shick and make the score 7-5.
 
The Big Red looked to rally in the bottom of the ninth, scoring one run on a double and an error, but Gator reliever Jarod Deagan escaped the jam with a line out and a fly out to seal the one-run victory.
 
Beaumont and Pouch each had two hits to lead the Gators' nine-hit attack, while Shick went 1-for-3 with a walk and a pair of runs scored.
 
Boyer took the no-decision on the mound, throwing four innings and allowing three runs on four hits with three K's.  Deagan, the Gators' fourth pitcher of the game, was credited with the win, allowing one run on one hit with one strikeout in 1.2 innings.
 
GAME TWO – DENISON 9, ALLEGHENY 8
The Gators again jumped out to an early lead in the nightcap.  Chase Davis was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning, before Patrick Orr drew a walk. Davis was retired at third on a fielder's choice off the bat of Austin Bristol, but Bolt Seymour came through with a bloop single to centerfield, bringing home a hustling Orr from second base to put the Gators in front 1-0.
 
Denison would quickly answer back, scoring four runs in the bottom of the second and two more in the third to take a 6-1 lead.  Four of the six runs came with two outs, and two were unearned due to a pair of Gator defensive miscues.
 
Allegheny looked to chip away at the deficit, getting back a pair of runs in the top of the fifth. Seymour started things, as he led off with an infield single and stole second with one out. Andrew Dawson smacked an RBI single to center to bring home Seymour, before Shick came through with a two-out single to right to bring home  and cut the gap to 6-3.
 
After ceding a run in the bottom of the fifth, the Gators continued to mount the comeback trail in the sixth. Davis singled and Orr was hit by a pitch, before both scored on Seymour's third hit of the day, a double to the gap in left-center, to trim the deficit to 7-5. 
 
A balk pushed across Denison's eighth run of the game in the bottom of the sixth, but the Gators came right back with a big top of the seventh.  After Pawlak and Shick drew back-to-back walks to open the frame, Beaumont singled to load the bases. Pawlak would then score on a fielder's choice ground ball by Davis to again make it a two-run game, 8-6. Two pitches later, Pouch laced a pinch hit double to the fence in right center to bring home Davis and Shick and tie the game at 8-all.
 
A single and stolen base put the go-ahead run in scoring position for Denison in the seventh, but Gator reliever Nate Pastorek escaped the trouble with a strikeout and groundout. The Big Red again looked to rally in the bottom of the eighth, putting a pair of men on via walk, but this time, Cy Perry came out of the pen to end the inning with a fly ball to center.
 
In the top of the ninth, the Gators threatened, with Davis and Orr each smacking two-out singles, but were unable to plate a two-out run. In the bottom half, Sean Kealey retired the Big Red in order to send the game into extras.
 
DiMaggio smacked a one-out single in the top of the 10th, eventually moving to second on a sacrifice bunt, but was left stranded in scoring position. In the bottom of the inning, Kealey retired the side in order yet again, highlighted by a diving catch by Dawson in shallow center.
 
In the bottom of the 11th, a leadoff double by Eric Zmuda chased Kealey in favor of Travis Neamon. The Gator reliever quickly recorded two straight outs, on a botched sacrifice bunt and a pop up, before issuing an intentional walk to set up a force play at any base. However, Noah Hahn sent a single through the hole in left center field to plate Zmuda with the winning run.
 
The Gators out-hit the Big Red 14-12 in the loss, with nine different Allegheny batters recording at least one hit. Seymour went 3-for-4 with two RBIs to lead the way, while shick, Davis, and Orr all head two hits apiece.
 
Robert Julian started and worked the first four innings on the mound, taking a no-decision, and was the first of seven Gators to toe the rubber on the day. Pastorek (1.1 innings), Deagan (0.1), and Perry (0.2) all had scoreless appearances.  After retiring the first six batters he faced, Kealey was saddled with the hard-luck loss, after surrendering the leadoff double in the 11th.
 
Brian McAullffe went 3-for-5 to lead the Denison offense, while Hahn, Zmuda, and Grady Paine had two hits apiece. Mikey Rivera threw the final five innings in relief and allowed just one run with four K's to get credited with the win.
 
Allegheny closes the season with a 23-17 overall record, marking the team's fifth straight winning season, while the team reached 20 wins for the seventh time in nine years under head coach Kelly Swiney '99.