CRAWFORDSVILLE, Ind. – Allegheny split its conference-opening doubleheader with Wabash, recovering from a 5-0 setback in the opener to record a 9-8 victory in a nightcap heavy with offense.
 
With the split, the Gators move to 6-11 on the season, and 1-1 in the North Coast Athletic Conference, while Wabash ends the day 14-5 overall, and 1-1 in the league.
 
Game One: Wabash 5, Allegheny 0
In the opener, Wabash starter Bryan Roberts kept the Gator bats at bay, while the Allegheny defense committed six errors that led to three unearned runs.
 
Roberts went the distance and faced just three batters over the minimum, allowing just three hits with five strikeouts.  All three Gator knocks were singles, with one apiece from Tommy Cannon, Tyler Wagner, and Max Sessions.
 
In the bottom of the second, the Little Giants used two hits and three errors to score a trio of unearned runs with two outs and take an early 3-0 lead on RBI singles from Jared Wolfe and Sean Roginski.
 
Wabash would add a run on two hits in the third, before manufacturing their final run of the game in the bottom of the fourth, using a walk, stolen base, sacrifice bunt, and another Roginski RBI single to take a 5-0 lead.
 
Allegheny was unable to chip away at the deficit, as Roberts retired the side in order in five of the game's final seven innings to seal the victory.
 
Jarod Deagan started and took the loss for the Gators, allowing five runs (two earned) on eight hits, with two walks and one strikeout in 5 2/3 innings.  Nate Pastorek was solid out of the bullpen, allowing no runs on just one hit over the final 2 2/3 innings.
 
The Little Giants' first through three hitters in the lineup combined for six of the team's nine hits, with Roginski, Jackson Blevins, and Jared Wolfe each going 2-for-4.  
 
 
Game Two: Allegheny 9, Wabash 8
The Allegheny bats awakened in a big way early on in the nightcap, sending eight men to the plate in the top of the first and scoring four runs on five hits.  Cullen Flaherty opened the game with a double, before Cannon promptly followed with another two-base hit to plate Flaherty with the game's first run.  Two batters later, Luke Chutko laced a double to left to plate Cannon, and Noah Shannon followed by drawing a walk.  Bret Kelly would then put an exclamation point on the inning with a two-out triple to the gap in right center, scoring Shannon and Chutko to give Allegheny a 4-0 lead.
 
Wabash answered right back in the bottom half of the frame, scored three runs on five hits to make it a one-run game, but Allegheny answered right back in the top of the second. 

With one out, Flaherty and Andrew Vincent drew back-to-back walks, before Flaherty came home on Cannon's RBI single to make it 5-3.  Vincent scored on a Wagner RBI single to left, while Cannon would come home on a Chutko sacrifice fly to give Allegheny a 7-3 lead.
 
The Gators added on in the top of the fifth.  Kelly, Ethan Pawlak, and Carone hit consecutive singles to load the bases, before Flaherty's sacrifice fly plated Kelly with the team's eighth run.  
 
Wabash answered back in the bottom of the fifth, plating four runs on four hits.  The Little Giants loaded the bases with one out in the frame, before Dalton Donachie recorded a strikeout for the second out.  A bases loaded walk brought home Wabash's fourth run of the game, while Jackson Blevins followed with a two-run single to cut the Wabash deficit to 8-6.  Bryce Aldridge's infield single would then make it a one-run game, before relieve Cy Perry ended the threat by inducing a pop up to end the inning with a pair of runners stranded.
 
In the top of the seventh, the Gators added onto their one-run lead, as Ethan Pawlak walked to begin the frame, before scoring on Andrew Vincent's two-out double to make it a 9-7 game.
 
Wabash refused to go away, scoring once in the bottom of the eighth to cut it to a one-run deficit. The Little Giants would load the bases and continue to threaten in the frame, but the Gators' Sean Kealey was summoned from the bullpen to record a pop up and a ground out to escape the threat.  Allegheny went down in order in the top of the ninth, before Kealey pitched around a one-out single to throw a scoreless ninth and earn the save.
 
Nine different players found the hit column for the Gators, with Kelly leading the team's 16-hit charge with a 3-for-5 performance.  He was one of six teammates to record at least two hits, as Flaherty went 2-for-2 with a walk and two runs scored, Chutko and Shannon each 2-for-3, Pawlak 2-for-4, and Cannon 2-for-5 with two RBIs and two runs scored.
 
Donachie started and worked the first 4 2/3 innings, allowing seven runs on 11 hits with five strikeouts.  Perry was credited with the win after retiring the only batter he faced in the fifth.  Travis Neamon allowed one run in 2 1/3 innings with two strikeouts, before Kealey recorded the game's final five outs, allowing just one hit, to record his first career save.
 
Andrew Jumonville paced the Wabash offense in the loss, going 3-for-6 with an RBI and two runs scored, while Blevins and Bryce Aldridge each had two hits and two RBIs.  Cody Cochran started and took the loss, working 2/3 of an inning and allowing four runs on four hits.  He was one of six pitchers to see action in the game for the Little Giants.
 
Upon their return to Pennsylvania, the Gators will embark on a busy week, with five games slated for the week, beginning with a 12 p.m. NCAC doubleheader at Oberlin on Wed. Apr. 4.