NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. – The Allegheny baseball team battled on the road at Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) foe Westminster Saturday (April 25), falling in a pair of closely contested games.
The Gators fell in a tight battle, 6-5, in game one before dropping game two, 1-0, on a walk-off.
Game One - Westminster 6, Allegheny 5
The Titans struck first in game one, scoring two runs in the second off two hits. They had the bases loaded with one out later in the frame, but the Gators got out of the jam without surrendering any additional runs.
In the top of the third, the Gators loaded the bases with two outs after singles by
Liam Irving (Olney, Md./Sherwood),
Noah Philson (Greenville, Pa./Greenville) and
Tyler Skaggs (Champion Heights, Ohio/Champion). However, the runners were left stranded.
In the fourth, Westminster tacked on two more runs on four hits to extend their advantage to 4-0.
The Gators came alive in the fifth as they took the lead. Irving singled for the third time in the game.
Ryan Cochran (Pittsburgh, Pa./Deer Lakes) then reached first on a bunt single before a Philson hit drove in the first run. After Skaggs drew a walk to load the bases,
Michael Alspaugh (Venetia, Pa./Peters Township) delivered a double down the right field line, driving in two more runs.
Zach Miner (Venetia, Pa./Peters Township) reached on a fielder's choice while an error on the play allowed Alspaugh and Skaggs to score, putting the Gators in front 5-4.
After a scoreless sixth, the Titans regained the lead in the bottom of the seventh, coming across the plate twice on three hits.
The score remained 6-5 in favor of the Titans entering the ninth, but the Gators were unable to find the tying run as they fell in game one.
Inside the Box
- Irving went three-for-five at the plate.
- Alspaugh hit a two-RBI double.
- Miner also drove in a pair of runs.
- Philson had a multi-hit game, driving in a run.
- Cochran and Skaggs also produced a hit.
- Evan Belkin (Austin, Texas/James Bowie) pitched 3.1 innings of relief, giving up two earned runs.
- Ashton Reidy (Bloomfield Hills, Mich./Brother Rice) pitched a scoreless 1.1 innings of relief.
Game Two - Westminster 1, Allegheny 0
The Gators posed the first threat in game two. Singles by Irving and Cochran gave them a pair of runners with two outs in the third, but both were left on base.
Irving and Cochran also both reached base in the fifth after drawing walks, but once again were stranded. Allegheny produced base runners in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings but were unable to push a run across the plate.
The Gator pitchers allowed just two hits in the game entering the ninth inning, still deadlocked at zero. The first Titan batter was hit by a pitch and stole second, but was later thrown out by Skaggs trying to steal third. Westminster, with two outs, hit a double to put a runner on. The next batter then singled to right field, bringing the runner in from second as the Gators fell on the walk-off hit.
Inside the Box
- The Gators allowed just four hits all game.
- Parker McRay (Mechanicsville, Va./Atlee) got the start on the mound. In 6.0 scoreless innings, he allowed just two hits while striking out four.
- Dawson Thomas (Espyville, Pa./Conneaut Area) pitched a scoreless inning.
- Irving had another multi-hit game, singling twice.
- Cochran, Philson, Miner, Wyatt Burchill (Saegertown, Pa./Saegertown) and Connor Kunkle (Moon Township, Pa./Moon Area) all had hits.
News and Notes
- Allegheny is now 35-34 all-time against Westminster.
Up Next
The Gators wrap-up the regular season on the road Friday (May 1) at Geneva.
