Gators Lose in Heartbreaker to Pitt-Bradford

Mar 29, 2007

Box Score

MEADVILLE, Pa. – The Allegheny College Gators were unable to right the ship on Thursday afternoon against Pitt-Bradford, as the Gators dropped their 13th straight game to start the 2007 season, falling to the Panthers 7-6 in the nine-inning contest. Pete Obourn’s (Farmington, N.Y./Victor) fifth inning grand slam, with the celebration of it pictured at left, gave the Gators a 6-2 lead, but the squad was unable to hold onto the lead in the loss.

After a scoreless first inning, the Panthers (10-3) jumped onto the scoreboard with a pair of runs when Corey Smock hit a two-run triple, scoring Jim Colestro and Bart McGary. Allegheny countered with a run of their own in the bottom of the third inning when Eric Rich (McMurray, Pa./Peters Township) scored on a wild pitch, cutting the deficit in half at 2-1.

The Gators fought back to knot the game at two in the bottom of the fourth inning when Obourn hit a sacrifice fly to right field, scoring J.R. Hess (Pittsburgh, Pa./Central Catholic), who led off the inning with a double. Obourn came up the hero in the next inning, as he drove in Matt Young (State College, Pa./State College), Hess and Mike Pereslucha (Pittsburgh, Pa./Kiski), who had reached on a hit-by-pitch, walk, and walk, respectively.

Pitt-Bradford countered with two more runs in the top of the sixth inning when Colestro singled through the left side with the bases loaded, scoring two and cutting the deficit to a pair at 6-4. The Gators got out of the one-out jam with as the Gators forced Smock onto a double-play, pictured at right, the second of the game for the Gators, as the Blue and Gold picked up their third double-play of the game an inning later. Two innings later the Panthers scored a trio of runs, the first on a bases loaded hit-by-pitch before Brandon LaBrozzi hit a two-run single to left field, giving the visitors the one-run lead.

The lead would be enough for Pitt-Bradford, as three pitchers, Nate Jones, Jake Wells and Chad Yohe combined to earn one out in the bottom of the ninth inning, with the Panthers escaping Robertson Field with a victory by the narrowest of margins.

Rich led the team by going 3-for-5 from the plate, while Obourn was 2-for-5, with the pair combining to pick up five of the team’s seven base hits in the contest. Hess scored twice for the Gators, while Obourn drove in a career-best five runs, four of which came from the longball.

The Gator defense was stellar for the squad, as the team committed no errors, picked up three double plays with catcher Alex Herrnberger (Eighty Four, Pa./Canon McMillan), bottom right, throwing out both attempted base stealers for the Panthers.

Freshman pitcher Matt Dishong (Venetia, Pa./Ringgold), left, pitched five strong innings to start the game, scattering five hits and allowing two earned runs in the no-decision. James Fago (Lockport, N.Y./Lockport) came in to pitch in the sixth inning, and gave up five earned runs in two and two-thirds of an inning, dropping his record to 0-2 on the season. Freshman Justin Abbott (Pittsburgh, Pa./Seton-La Salle) pitched the final inning and a third, allowing just a solitary hit.

Jones picked up the win for Pitt-Bradford, pitching three and two-thirds of an inning, striking out three and allowing just one hit, the Obourn home run while walking three. Zach Foster was 3-for-4 for the visitors while McGary connected for a hit on three of his five at-bats.

The loss to a team with a winning record is nothing new to the Gators, as the team has dropped 11 of their 13 games to teams with more wins than losses. Overall this season Allegheny’s seven opponents have a combined 70-23 record for a .753 winning percentage.

The Gators next take to the road on March 31 and April 1, as the team travels to Granville, Ohio to take on the Big Red of Denison University in a two-day tripleheader, starting with two seven-inning games on Saturday the 31st, following with a nine-inning game on Sunday.

Printable Version