Gators Take Season Series from Hiram

Apr 24, 2006

Game 1 Boxscore
Game 2 Boxscore

HIRAM, Ohio – The Allegheny College Gators swept the Hiram Terriers on Sunday afternoon by scores of 9-2 and 8-7, taking the season series three games to one.

The first game started as a pitcher’s duel, as neither team was able to find the scoreboard for the first two innings of the contest, before the Gator offense erupted for seven runs in the top of the third inning. Matt Young (State College) doubled with the bases loaded, scoring Dan Ayer (Pittsburgh/Mt. Lebanon) and Dirk Bonessa (Pittsburgh/Shady Side Academy), before Zack Oblak (Harrison City/Penn-Trafford) singled in Young. After a walk loaded the bases, Brandon Skoff (Carnegie/Chartiers Valley) hit a grand slam home run, emptying the bases, and giving the visitors a commanding 7-0 lead.

Hiram cut into the deficit with a pair of runs in the bottom of the fourth inning, before the Blue and Gold added a run in both the fifth and sixth innings, giving the visitors a 9-2 lead. Pete Obourn (Farmington, N.Y./Victory) scored on an error in the fifth inning, before Skoff picked up his fifth run batted in on the day in the sixth inning, when he drove in Young with a double. The final inning and a half was scoreless, as the Gators took the 9-2 win.

Oblak was a perfect 3-for-3 from the plate, while five others, Bonessa, Eric Rich (McMurray/Peters Township), Young, Skoff and Obourn, each had a pair of hits. Young scored twice in the game, while Skoff drove in a season-high five in the win.

Jon Schmitt (Bolivar, N.Y./Bolivar-Richburg) pitched the complete game, striking out five in seven innings of work, while not allowing an earned run.

In the second game the Gator offense continued to thrive, as the Blue and Gold scored a pair of runs in the top of the first inning, as Jimmy Fernandez (Niagara Falls, N.Y.) doubled, scoring Dan Ayer, before being driven in with a double off the bat of Young.

Neither team was able to dent the plate over the next two innings, before the hosts added a run in the bottom of the third inning, cutting the deficit in half at 2-1. The Gators forged ahead in their half of the fourth inning, when Matt DeGiovanni (Pittsburgh/Mt. Lebanon) grounded out to the second baseman, scoring Oblak, before Mark Matsko (Beaver) scored on a passed ball, pushing the Gator lead to 4-1.

The host Terriers responded with four runs in the bottom half of the fourth inning, taking a one-run, 5-4 lead, before three runs by the Gators pushed the visitors ahead by two at 7-5. Oblak drove in the first two runs of the inning for the Blue and Gold, driving in Young and Rich, before a DeGiovanni single brought in Oblak.

Back-to-back one-run innings by the Terriers tied the game at eight after six innings, as neither team was able to find the scoreboard in the seventh inning, sending the game into extra innings. The Blue and Gold wasted no time in the eighth inning, as Young doubled, scoring Fernandez, giving the visitors a one-run lead heading into the bottom of the eighth. After allowing a leadoff single to start the inning, the Gators got a pair of fielder's choices and a strikeout to end the threat, giving the Gators the 8-7 win.

Young was 3-for-4 from the plate, while Oblak was 2-for-3 and Matsko and Fernandez 2-for-4 each. Fernandez and Oblak scored twice, while Young, Oblak and DeGiovanni drove in two runs apiece.

Colt Viehdorfer (Morrisdale/West Branch) started the game for the Gators and picked up the no decision, striking out three in five and a third inning of work, as Drew Scibetta (Glenshaw/Shaler Area) pitched the final two and two-thirds of an inning, striking out three and giving up just one base hit.

The second day sweep was bittersweet, however, as Kenyon swept the series from Oberlin, finishing the year one-game ahead of the Gators, and earning the bid to the NCAC postseason tournament.

The Gators next take the field on Thursday, April 27, when the team travels north to Erie, Pa., to face off against the Lions of Penn State Behrend, with the first pitch set for 2:00 p.m.

Printable Version