It was an exciting weekend of baseball at Robert M. Garbark Field with Allegheny going a perfect 3-0. The Gators (7-5) earned a pair of victories in a doubleheader sweep against the University of Rochester, before taking the Sunday snow fest against Oberlin College.
The 48 hours of play were highlighted with dominant pitching from Brent Herrmann, ’24, and two walk-off hits from JD Robinson, ’25, and Tyson Bryant Dawson, ’25.
“Anytime you finish a weekend 3-0, you have to feel really good about your club,” said head coach Brandon Crum. “I’m really just proud of them for fighting through the elements. When it mattered, we were the better team.”
Allegheny’s southpaw starter threw in the weekend opener. Facing a tough Yellowjackets roster that has made it to the NCAA tournament three times in the last five years, Herrmann surrendered just a pair of hits while going the distance in his 10th career win.
He threw 131 pitches, and his complete game shutout was the first for Allegheny since the 2015 season.
His performance on the hill earned him the Presidents’ Athletic Conference’s Pitcher of the Week award and a spot on the d3baseball.com Team of the Week roster.
“It felt great for sure,” Herrmann said. “But, I gotta give it to (Jon) Sharp, ’24, behind the dish. From what coach Crum told me, he called over 90% of the pitches. I think it should be a team award. It should be the Allegheny Gators. We just won three in a row, it’s not all about me. It’s a team sport.”
The Gators’ offense gave Herrmann some breathing room in the sixth inning, scoring a pair of runs to finalize the scoring at 3-0.
The nightcap against Rochester featured a back-and-forth contest. Allegheny struck first blood early, then gave up the lead slightly more than halfway through. The bats came through for three runs in the seventh and eighth innings before the Gators pitching staff yielded a pair of Yellowjackets runs in the top of the ninth inning, tying the game.
After two quick outs in the bottom frame, it seemed as if the game was heading for extras. However, Brady Nolin, ’25, roped a single into left. Then, Robinson smoked a ball to dead center, hitting the base of the wall, which allowed Nolin to score and give Allegheny the win.
“I had a plan that if I saw a pitch I liked I was going to hammer it,” Robinson said. “Brady did a great job at first base of getting a good jump, being able to go from first to home, so props to him. It was a cool moment, but more importantly it was a cool moment for the team.”
During the Sunday matinee against the Yeomen, Allegheny found themselves in another nail-biter.
It was enough entertainment for Mother Nature to get involved, hailing her snow down on the playing surface during the third inning. With Meadville under a weather attack, the umpires delayed the game for 35 minutes, waiting for the winter storm to pass.
Right before the decision, Matthew Jennings, ’25, hit a lazy fly ball to right field that nobody could see. Trying to track the white object, some of the infielders were pointing to center field while the outfielders threw up their arms in confusion. Nobody caught it, and Jennings ended up with a triple.
Later in the game, Jennings hit a three-run home run over the left field wall to give Allegheny the lead. Oberlin fought back and put up two in the seventh frame, before Allegheny tied the game in the eighth with another run.
With no runs in the ninth, the game went into extra innings.
Each team scored one in the 10th frame.
With the game was tied at six in the bottom of the 11th, Allegheny had the bases loaded with two outs. Dawson, who already homered earlier in the game, stepped to the dish and laced a ground ball up the middle to walk the game off for Allegheny’s second contest in a row, concluding the weekend with the Gators winning all three games.
“Prior to that, besides the home run, I had three strikeouts so I was just trying to flush those and come up big for the team in any way,” Dawson said. “I was just thinking put the ball in play and if it’s on the ground beat it out.”
In attendance for the Oberlin game was former Allegheny pitching coach Tyler Schuch. Now on the Yeomen’s coaching staff, Schuch spent time with the Gators during the 2021 and 2022 seasons. He was beloved by the team.
After the contest between these two foes last year was canceled, he made his return to the Swamp for the first time since departing.
Because of the weather, the day started with Oberlin hitting David V. Wise Center for batting practice before the game. Schuch snuck upstairs to the offices, where he found his old stomping grounds, embracing the cubicle he spent two years working in.
Going to the field was a different experience.
“Approaching the whole complex here, it’s been amazing to see Garby Yard,” Schuch said. “They did a phenomenal job with the field. And of course, seeing Coach Crum — I really enjoyed my first experience here. I’m always thankful for everything he did for me. To see the guys, I remember Nolin and Jennings were my first recruiting calls ever as a college coach. It was good to see all the guys back there. I got to say words to pretty much everyone that I coached.”
Allegheny’s next test will be against Franciscan University on Saturday, March 23. The road twin bill begins at 1 p.m. as the Gators undergo their first games of PAC play this year.
“We’re excited to start playing conference (games),” Crum said. “I think we have a lot to prove and a lot of respect to earn. I think we’re a much tougher team, and it’s definitely something that’s been a focus for us.”
