GAMBIER, Ohio -- Allegheny used five home runs on the day, including four in an 18-9 game one win, to earn a North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) split at Kenyon.

The Lords rebounded to take the second game, 9-3. With the split, the Gators move to 19-15 overall and 8-7 in the NCAC. Allegheny has gone 6-2 in the first games of NCAC doubleheaders, but is just 2-5 (with game two against Wabash pending) in the night cap.

Allegheny scored in five innings of the opener, with four of those including multiple runs. After three innings, the Gators led 6-2, after three in the first, two in the second and one in the third. Tommy Cannon (Hermitage, Pa./Hickory) had an RBI single in the first and his fourth homer of the season in the third. Bret Kelly (Tonawanda (N.Y./Tonawanda) had an RBI single in the first and then was caught between first and second long enough for Cannon to score the third run of the game. An RBI double by Austin Bristol (Orchard Park, N.Y./Orchard Park) and sacrifice fly off the bat of Luke Chutko (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Hills) accounted for both runs in the second inning.

The fourth inning saw the Lords respond with five runs of their own to take their first lead of the day. A pair of homers in the next half-inning allowed Allegheny to get all five runs back. Tyler Hettich (Sarver, Pa./Freeport) homered to center, a two-run shot that was his first of the season, and then Ethan Pawlak (Chardon, Ohio/Gilmour Academy) drove his fourth homer of the year over the fence for a three-run shot which made the score 11-7.

Seven runs came in for Allegheny in the top of the eighth, beginning with a pinch-hit, two-run home run by Brandon Pouch (Imperial, Pa./West Allegheny). Cannon posted an RBI double, while Brett Heckert (Wexford, Pa./North Allegheny), Max Sessions (Bethesda, Md./Walt Whitman) and Pawlak delivered RBI base knocks and Roman Santia (Wexford, Pa./North Allegheny) scored on a wild pitch for the final run of the game, 18-9.

Nick Tarasi (Gibsonia, Pa./Shady Side Academy) earned the first win (1-1) of his career, working 1.2 innings out of the bullpen and allowing three hits and two earned runs. Nolan Thompson (McMurray, Pa./Peters Township) closed out the game and picked up his first collegiate save by working the final 4.0 innings and striking out three while giving up three hits and not allowing a run. He lowered his season ERA a full run with the outing from 4.50 to 3.50.

Cannon had four hits for the first time this season, the fourth time over the last two seasons he's achieved that mark. He finished with three RBI. Pawlak drove in four to match his season high. Eight of the nine Allegheny starters had at least two hits in the game as the Gators pounded out 19 base knocks, tied for second most in a game this year, including the season-high four homers.

Game two saw the Gators put up a pair of runs in the top of the first thanks to an RBI double from Hettich and a run-scoring single by Cannon. It would be the only time Allegheny led in the game, as Kenyon struck for three in the bottom of the first and Allegheny mustered only one more run -- on the first collegiate home run of Heckert's career -- in the top of the fourth. The only three hits for Allegheny in the game produced runs.

Dalton Donachie (New Springfield, Ohio/Springfield Local) started for just the second time in 2019 and suffered the loss to drop to 3-2 this season. He allowed seven hits and six runs in 5.0 innings, striking out five and walking three. Joe Nagel (Sewickley, Pa./Sewickley Academy) yielded a three-run home run in his only inning of relief, while Isaiah Lucas (Butler, Pa./Butler) kept the Lords off the scoreboard in the final two innings, striking out a pair and giving up just two hits.

The Gators will close out the 2019 regular season this weekend in Indiana, where Allegheny will travel to Greencastle and DePauw for a noon doubleheader on Saturday before concluding the second game of the Wabash series in Crawfordsville at 11 a.m. Sunday. The game was suspended in the bottom of the third inning on March 30 with Allegheny leading, 2-0, thanks to a two-run double by Cannon in the first inning.