Box Scores:
Game One |
Game Two
MEADVILLE, Pa. -- The Allegheny baseball team is one win away from clinching a berth in the North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament after it split an East Division doubleheader with Oberlin on Friday at the Robertson Complex. The Gators won the first decision, 9-5, but fell in game two, 1-0.
Allegheny freshman Phil Morrissette dealt the biggest blow in the opener, connecting for a three-run homer during the hosts' four-run third inning. At the time, the blast helped the Gators to a 7-2 lead. Morrissette finished with a 2-for-3 game with four RBIs.
The Yeomen (18-16, 8-6) took advantage of an early Gator miscue and grabbed a 1-0 advantage after its half of the first inning. Max Phinney knocked in the run with a groundout.
The hosts responded with a three-run first -- courtesy of RBI singles by Andy Schleihauf, Jeff Dassner and Morrissette. Both Eric Hansen and Matt Stahl were hit by pitches to set the table. Schleihauf blooped his hit inside the right-field line while Dassner and Morrissette smashed line drives to right.
Heads-up baserunning by Phil Brua enabled the visitors to trim their deficit to 3-2 in the second. On a hit-and-run play, Brua took off from first base just before Matt Fish hit a chopper into right field and, when the Gator defense cut the batter off from advancing to second, Brua barreled down the third-base line and scored.
The Gators (21-10, 10-4) paid their adversaries back in the third -- highlighted by Morrissette's dinger over the right-center field fence. Stahl led off the frame with a single. Schleihauf followed with a bouncer back to the pitcher -- a possible double-play ball -- but the Yeomen misplayed it into an error, putting runners on first and third. Dassner then smacked an RBI double before the inning's big hit.
In the fourth, a string of three consecutive singles allowed Oberlin to push across one run and threaten for more before Gator starting pitcher David Strawser emerged from the jam.
Phinney, Ben Kauder and Eric Knight had the Yeomen singles; Knight plated Phinney to make the score 7-3. A sacrifice bunt was the first out of the inning. Strawser then bared down, striking out Brua on a 3-2 pitch and then mowing down Fish on three pitches to end the frame.
The Yeomen benefited from an Allegheny error in the fifth and trimmed the gap to 7-4. After giving up the Morrissette bomb, pitcher Brandon Cantrill retired nine consecutive Gator batters until running into more trouble in the sixth.
Hansen lashed a one-out double for Allegheny -- the first of five consecutive hits. Lynch drove in Hansen with an RBI triple and then scored on a Lowmaster RBI single, giving the Blue and Gold a 9-4 lead. Stahl and Schleihauf added singles, loading the bases for the Gators, but the hosts were unable to push across another run in the inning.
Oberlin scored its final run in the seventh on Cantrill's third double of the contest. Strawser finished the game by getting Phinney to ground out back to him.
While earning the win, Strawser (4-2) allowed three earned runs on 10 hits while recording nine strikeouts and no walks.
On offense, Stahl batted 2-for-3 while Dassner and Schleihauf went 2-for-4. Hansen, Schleihauf and Stahl scored two runs each.
For Oberlin, Cantrill had his three doubles along with one run scored and an RBI. Ben Puterbaugh scored twice in support of Cantrill, who went the distance, allowing eight earned runs on 12 hits. Cantrill (2-3) also had three strikeouts and no walks.
The nightcap was a thrilling pitchers' duel, featuring one man who reached double-digits in strikeouts and another who carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning. In total, the team's combined for one run, which was unearned, and five hits.
The Yeomen broke through for the contest's only score in the third. With two outs, Fish bunted his way to a single. On a hit-and-run, Puterbaugh singled, advancing Fish to third. On the play, the Gators committed an error, allowing Fish to score.
Matt Dishong (4-2) went the distance for Allegheny, finishing with 13 strikeouts and no walks while allowing three hits. He retired the first eight batters he faced before Fish's hit.
Brua (6-2) carried a no-hitter through 5 2/3 innings for the visitors before Stahl lined a single to right-center field. Brua gave up only two hits -- Dassner had the other one -- while striking out eight.
With a noon doubleheader set for Saturday, the Gators and Yeomen are playing for their playoff lives. One Allegheny win would secure a spot for the Blue and Gold while Oberlin needs a doubleheader sweep for its NCAC season to continue.