Gators Take Pair from Bison

Apr 27, 2006

Game 1 Boxscore
Game 2 Boxscore

BETHANY, W.Va. – The Allegheny College Gators inched closer to .500 on the season, sweeping Bethany College on Thursday afternoon, improving the team to 16-18 on the season. The Gators won the first game 2-0 in eight innings, before winning 10-2 in six innings in the nightcap.

The first game was a knock-down, drag-out pitchers duel, with Allegheny’s Giannina Coccaro (Miami, Fla./Palmetto) and Bethany’s Angie DeSantis going pitch-for-pitch over the first seven innings of the contest. Coccaro allowed five hits over the first seven innings of the game, while DeSantis allowed four hits through seven innings before the Gators led off the eighth inning with a two-run home run off the bat of Rachel Ryan (West Salem, Ohio/Northwestern), giving the visitors the 2-0 win.

Bethany threatened in the third inning, as the Bison picked up three of their five hits in the game, loading the bases with two outs, but a two-out fielder’s choice ended the threat. After the three-hit inning, Coccaro settled down, allowing just one hit the rest of the way, and fanning five straight batters, ending the sixth inning with two and then striking out the side in the seventh, sending the contest into extra innings.

In the top of the eighth inning, the Gator bats came alive, as Elizabeth Burr (Farmdale, Ohio/Badger) singled to start the frame, and was advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt. Crystal Ptacek (Allison Park/North Allegheny) hit into a fielders choice, as Burr was thrown out at third base, before Ryan followed with her third longball of the 2006 season. Abby Bodenlos (Pittsburgh/Shady Side Academy) followed with a single, but was stranded.

A groundout to the pitcher, a strikeout and a groundout to the second baseman ended the game for Bethany, as Coccaro improved to 6-8 on the year with her third shutout of the season, striking out eight in eight innings of work and walking just one.

Ryan and Burr were each 2-for-4 from the plate, as Ptacek, Bodenlos and Brittany Rechtin (Spring City/St. Pius X) picked up the team’s other three hits in the game.

The Gators took their first game momentum into the second game, as the Blue and Gold scored five runs in the second inning, jumping out to the large lead and cruising the rest of the way. Back-to-back singles by Rechtin and Coccaro put runners on first and second with two outs, before a Stephanie Lasinski (Gibsonia/Pine-Richland) fielders choice loaded the bases. Sarah Reilly (Dunkirk, N.Y.) followed with a single, scoring two, before Burr walked to re-load the bases. Bodenlos emptied the bases with a double, giving the Gators the five-run advantage.

Bethany countered with a pair of unearned runs in their half of the second inning, cutting the deficit to three at 5-2. Three innings went by with neither team able to reach the scoreboard, before the visitors scored five more runs in the top of the sixth inning, pushing their lead to 10-2. Coccaro started the inning with her second single of the game, and advanced to second when Becca Rich (Gibsonia/North Allegheny) reached on an error by the pitcher. Lasinski loaded the bases with a single, before Sarah Piranian (Mars/North Allegheny) reached on a fielders choice, scoring Coccaro. Burr followed with an RBI single, before Bodenlos drove in Reilly, taking the lead to 8-2. Burr scored on a double-steal, before Rechtin singled in Bodenlos, providing the final runs of the game.

A 1-2-3 bottom of the sixth inning ended the game for the Bison, as they were held to six hits by Rich, who also struck out six and walked just one. Rechtin was 3-for-4 to lead the team, as the Gators has 12 hits in their 31 at-bats. Bodenlos drove in four, going 2-for-4 from the plate, while Coccaro was also 2-for-4 in the game.

The Denison Big Red come into Meadville, Pa. on Saturday, in a pair of games that have very heavy NCAC playoff potential. First pitch is set for 1:00 p.m.

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