Gators Drop NCAC Twinbill to No. 15 Scots

Mar 23, 2007

Game 1 Box | Game 2 Box

PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. – The Allegheny College baseball team jumped on the board first in its first two North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) games of the season against No. 15 College of Wooster (13-0, 2-0 NCAC), but the streaking Fighting Scots struck last on both occasions, sweeping past the Gators 7-2 and 12-4 on Friday afternoon.

Allegheny (0-8, 0-2 NCAC) got off to a great start against Wooster’s ace Adam Samson as J.R. Hess (Pittsburgh, Pa./Central Catholic) put the Gators on the board with a bases loaded ground-rule double in the first inning, plating Brian Schmidt (Utica, Pa./Franklin) and Eric Rich (McMurray, Pa./Peters Township) who had each been hit by pitches earlier in the inning.

That would be all Allegheny could muster against Samson as the junior lefty scattered five hits over the final six frames, while fanning 14 batters in the game. Meanwhile, the Scot offense picked up the pace in the bottom of the third inning, tacking on four runs on a two-run homer by Bubba O’Donnell and a two-run single by Oliver Enos.

Colt Viehdorfer (Morrisdale, Pa./West Branch) got the start for the Blue and Gold and had a strong outing despite allowing seven earned runs. He held Wooster scoreless in five of his seven innings pitched and finished with 10 hits allowed, one walk, and four strikeouts. Wooster added three more runs in the sixth inning on a three-run blast by left fielder Jake Sankal.

In the second game of the double dip, the Gators got off to another fast start thanks to a leadoff triple by Rich. Junior Matt Young (State College, Pa./State College) drove a single to right-center to bring home Rich. Alex Herrnberger (Eighty Four, Pa./Canon McMillan) followed Young with a hard hit grounder which was mishandled by the second baseman. Hess picked up his third RBI of the day with a single through the right side, giving Allegheny a quick 2-0 advantage.

After going down quietly in their first turn at bat, the Scots jumped all over Gator starter James Fago (Lockport, N.Y./Lockport) in the second inning. Wooster sent nine batters to the plate in the inning, starting with a Pat Christensen homer to left field. Two runs later, Sankal blasted his second bomb of the day, this time plating three runs. Allegheny was able to get out of the inning without further damage as Fago got Christensen to ground into a double play with runners on first and third.

The Scots added two more runs in the fourth before Rich came to the plate in the top of the fifth with one out and hit his first home run of the season to right field. After a pair of hit batsmen, Herrnberger doubled down the right field line to bring in Schmidt, cutting the Wooster lead in half at 8-4.

Wooster flexed its muscles a final time in the sixth inning as Christensen connected on his second home run of the game and John Quimby added a three-run shot, setting the final score.

Rich ended a productive day at the plate by going 3-for-7 in the doubleheader with a home run, a triple, and three runs scored. Young also finished 3-for-7 with one run scored and one RBI, while Hess finished 2-for-6, plating half of his team’s run production for the day.

The Blue and Gold continue play tomorrow at 9:30 a.m. to complete the four game conference series against Wooster. Aaron Skalko (Edinboro, Pa./General McLane) and Hess will start on the hill for the Gators.

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