MEADVILLE, Pa. – Allegheny College baseball senior
Joe Killian belted a first-pitch, walk-off, two-run home run as the Gators defeated the University of Pitt-Greensburg, 14-12, in a back-and-forth non-conference contest from the Robertson Athletic Complex this afternoon.
Absurd would a way to describe the tilt between Allegheny (9-10, 2-2 NCAC East) and Pitt-Greensburg (13-11, 5-1 AMCC), but that might be putting it lightly. The game featured seven different lead changes and four other deadlocks as the teams combined for 26 runs, 35 hits, and eight errors.
A day after establishing a new career program record for doubles, Killian added a couple more bags on his usual trot, bashing a pair of round-trippers as he went 3-for-6 on the afternoon. The senior tallied half of the Gators' four homeruns, with
Robert DiMaggio and
Cullen Flaherty joining their teammate in the blast brigade.
Kyle O'Connell fell into some trouble early as he put the Bobcats' first three batters on with two singles and a walk. Pitt-Greensburg added to its 1-0 lead with a sacrifice fly from Ryan Dodson, and Anthony Bozzuto made it a trio of runs with his own RBI single to right. The damage could have been worse, but
Andrew Dawson made a strong throw from centerfield to nab Bozzuto at the plate on Ian Hart's single.
Flaherty led the bottom half off with a double, followed by a two-bagger from
Jacob Shick. Flaherty misread the ball and only moved to third on Shick's hit, but later scored on a DiMaggio groundout. Killian then was retired on a worm-killer that scored Shick, cutting the Bobcat lead to 3-2 after one.
O'Connell allowed two two-out runners with a double and hit-by-pitch, but he forced Dodson to pop up to second to end the frame.
Allegheny tied it up in the bottom of the second with a single from Dawson that scored
Ethan Pawlak. Pawlak began the stanza with a single, promptly stealing second before moving to third on a
Patrick Orr sacrifice bunt.
The Gators took the lead in their next at-bats when Killian deposited a Cohl Gibbs 3-1 fastball over the leftfield fence.
O'Connell generated a groundout to begin the fourth, but Chris Common was plunked by a pitch to put a runner on. Common then stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch, eventually making his way home via sacrifice fly from Dylan Pounds.
The teams traded zeros in the next two half innings, but Allegheny seemed to break it open with four runs in the bottom of the fifth.
Tyler Wagner led off the frame with a double and moved to third on a
Dan Bonnett groundout. A single from Pawlak scored Wagner, and
Kelly Swiney '99 made a move to bring in
Chase Davis in place of Orr. Davis rewarded his coach with a single to center, which scored Pawlak after the centerfielder couldn't handle the ball. The sophomore then scored on a pair of Bobcat mishaps as a failed pickoff sailed past second and the slid past the centerfielder's glove.
Bill Minnick replaced Dakota McWilliams and sat Dawson down with a breaking ball in the dirt. However, Flaherty jumped on the second pitch he saw, carrying it over the rightfield fence for his first career homerun.
The 8-4 advantage quickly turned into an 8-8 knot with Pitt-Greensburg tallying four runs in the top of the sixth. Two singles put runners on the corners and forced Swiney to replace
Hayden Smith with
Cy Perry. Perry gave up a pair of hits to score two, then was given an out on the sacrifice bunt to put runners on second and third. Matt Germanoski brought one runner in with a sacrifice fly, while the other came home courtesy of a Wagner fielding error.
DiMaggio made sure the deadlock didn't last long as he ripped a 1-2 fastball the other way, gaining just enough momentum to carry over the 365 sign in right-center.
Justin Stascak replaced Perry in an attempt to nurse the 9-8 lead, but that advantage fell by the wayside with two clutch two-out hits and a throwing error by Killian. When the dust cleared, Allegheny's 9-8 score turned into an 11-9 deficit.
The Gators couldn't chip away at that gap in the bottom of the seventh, but
Robert Julian made sure to hold it there with a popout and double play in the top of the eighth. Allegheny struck in the bottom half with a Killian double that scored Shick and some patient at-bats that turned into the tying run crossing the plate on a fielding error.
Joe Nagel entered the game against the heart of the Bobcat order and put together a strong performance, getting a sacrifice bunt and strikeout following a Greg Lynn lead-off single. Lynn moved to third on a passed ball, but Nagel generated the pop-up he needed to get out of the jam. However, it was dropped on the edge of the outfield grass, turning an 11-11 tie into a 12-11 lead in favor of the visitors.
Shick stayed hot at the plate in the bottom of the ninth with a one-out double into right. DiMaggio followed that up with an RBI single to tie the game, spurring a change of pitchers as Pitt-Greensburg removed Adam Dodson in favor of Mike Parlak. Killian apparently liked what he saw from Parlak's warm-up tosses as he jumped on the first pitch and crushed a no-doubter that won the game.
Six different Gators (DiMaggio, Flaherty, Killian, Pawlak, Shick, Wagner) registered multiple hits in the victory, with the 3-4 hitters (DiMaggio, Killian) combining for eight runs batted in. Allegheny crushed nine extra-base hits, seven more than the Bobcats' two.
Nagel picked up the win after allowing just the one hit and unearned run in the top of the ninth. 13 pitchers were used between the two teams, with all but one of Pitt-Greensburg's seven giving up at least one earned run.
Allegheny remains at home this weekend as it returns to North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) East division action against Hiram College. The Gators are set to play double-headers on Saturday and Sunday, with a noon first pitch set to begin the weekend slate.
