MEADVILLE, Pa. – Tommy Cannon's bases loaded single in the bottom of the ninth capped off a frantic late game comeback and lifted the Gators to a 10-9 win over Hiram in North Coast Athletic Conference action at the Robertson Athletic Complex.
Trailing 8-1 heading into the bottom of the sixth and 9-6 before the home half of the ninth, the Gators (14-16, 6-6 NCAC) scored two runs in each of the final two innings to remain perfect at home on the season and move back to the .500 mark in NCAC action.
Brandon Pouch had three hits and three RBIs, while freshmen
Tyler Hettich and
Luke Chutko each connected for their first career home runs in the victory.
The Gators entered the fateful bottom of the ninth trailing 9-8, but would waste little time in starting the eventual game-winning rally.
Cullen Flaherty reached on an error to lead off the frame, before Chutko was hit by a pitch. After Hettich advanced each with a perfect sacrifice bunt.
Ethan Pawlak was walked to load the bases. The move would backfire, however, as
Bret Kelly drew a bases loaded walk to plate the game-tying run. Hiram closer Tyler Carcioppolo got a pop up for the second out, but on the first pitch of his at-bat, Cannon rolled a grounder past a diving second baseman and into the outfield to plate the winning run.
The Gators found themselves in an early hole, as Hiram took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first on a leadoff double from Vince Suso and an RBI single from Alex Gould. With nobody out and the bases loaded, Gator starter
Nate Pastorek escaped trouble, as catcher Pouch started an unconventional 2-3 double play on a tapper in front of the plate, before Pastorek ended the frame with a strikeout to keep the damage to just one run.
After stranding the bases loaded in the bottom of the first, Chutko led off the second with a no-doubter over the wall in left center to tie the game at 1-1, which is how the score would remain until a lengthy top of the fourth for Hiram.
The Terriers did the bulk of their damage in that fourth inning, as they sent 11 men to the plate and scored six runs on eight singles to take a commanding 7-1 lead.
Hiram added a single run in the top of the sixth, but Allegheny was undeterred, and began its comeback in the bottom of the frame.
Max Sessions singled to open the frame, before Chutko drew a walk. Hettich would then lace an RBI single into left field to plate Sessions and make the score 7-2. Pawlak was hit by a pitch to load the bases for Kelly, who drew a free pass to plate Chutko with the Gators' third run of the game. Pouch then produced the big hit of the inning with a three-run double to the fence in center field that pulled the Gators to within two, 8-6.
Gator reliever
Cy Perry needed just 11 pitches to strike out the side in the top of the seventh, but he ran into some trouble in the eighth, with Hiram adding an unearned run to up the lead to 9-6.
Allegheny's offense went back to work in the bottom of the eighth. With one out, Hettich sent a towering blast over the wall in left center, before Kelly doubled to the wall in right center. With two outs, a ground ball off the bat of
Tyler Wagner was thrown away at first, allowing Kelly to score to make it a one-run game, 9-8.
Dalton Donachie, the Gators' fifth pitcher of the day, quickly dispatched the Terriers in order in the top of the ninth with a pair of K's and a ground out, setting the stage for his team's late heroics and earning his first career win in an Allegheny uniform.
Seven different players accounted for the Gators' 10 hits on the day, with Pouch's 3-for-5 effort and Hettich's 2-for-4 day leading the way. Chutko, Cannon, and Kelly all reached base three times on the afternoon.
Pastorek started and took a no-decision, allowing six runs on nine hits with five strikeouts in 3 1/3 innings of work.
Jarod Deagan allowed one run on two hits with three strikeouts in 2 1/3 innings, while Perry was charged with one unearned run on one hit with three K's in two innings, and Donachie threw the perfect top of the ninth.
Hiram, which totaled 14 hits, was paced offensively by PJ Suso, who finished 3-for-4 with two RBIs, while Vince Suso, Luke Brown, Curtis Caithaml, and Kyle Watson all had two hits apiece.
Tyler Duben started and got the no-decision for the Terriers, working into the sixth inning and allowing four runs on six hits and three walks with five K's. Carcioppolo came on in the eighth and took the loss, allowing two runs (one earned) on one hit and three walks.
The Gators will now return to action on Wed. Apr. 25 when the make the 30-minute trek south to take on non-conference rival Thiel at 4 p.m. Allegheny will then close the week with a Saturday twinbill at NCAC foe Wittenberg.
