WINTER HAVEN, Fla. -- The late innings of Thursday's baseball contest between Allegheny College and Aurora University were not kind to the Gators, as the Spartans exploded for a 19-7 victory at the Chain of Lakes Complex in Winter Haven, Fla.

The two teams entered the seventh tied at 2-all. However, Aurora (2-6) combined for 17 runs in the last two innings to enact the run-rule victory in the eighth. The Spartans punished the Allegheny (3-4) pitching staff with grand slams in both the seventh and eighth while batting around the lineup in both frames. 

Aurora wasn't the only team that slugged the ball on Thursday. Three different Gators hit home runs, including two solo shots from Tyler Skaggs (Champion Heights, Ohio/Champion) and Tyson Bryant-Dawson (Oakland, Calif./Manvel (Texas)) that put Allegheny ahead 2-0 after five. First-year infielder Garrett Lienhard (Jim Thorpe, Pa./Jim Thorpe) launched his first collegiate homer in the eighth to join the fireworks show at the plate. Skaggs, Bryant-Dawson, and Lienhard each had two hits and combined for six of the team's seven RBIs.

Inside the Box Score

• Aurora plated 19 runs on 14 hits, highlighted by two grand slams.
• Allegheny pushed across seven runs on nine hits with three home runs.
• The Spartans also committed five errors, while the Gator defense had only two.
• Bryant-Dawson, Skaggs, and Lienhard each were 2-for-4 with a home run and one run scored.
• Bryant-Dawson paced all Allegheny batters with three RBIs.
• Aurora's Julian Rosales had a game-high five RBIs, while Jaden Holgado and Dominick Curcio had four apiece.
• Justin Zimmerman picked up the win after allowing four runs on seven hits with a dozen strikeouts in 7.0 innings.
• Allegheny starter Mark Schweickert (Richmond, Va./John Randolph Tucker) pitched into the seventh but was tagged with the loss after giving up five runs on eight hits with four punch outs in 6.1 innings of work.

News and Notes

• Allegheny and Aurora met for the first time since playing twice during their spring break trip in Arizona in 2003; the two teams met seven times at spring break tournaments between 1998 and 2003.
• With three home runs against the Spartans, the Gators doubled their 2025 season total.
• Skaggs and Lienhard each hit their first career home runs on Thursday, while Bryant-Dawson logged his 21st as a Gator.

Up Next
Allegheny will face St. John Fisher University at Sanford Memorial Stadium in Sanford, Florida, on Friday, March 7, at 1:00 p.m.