By EMERALD WRIGHTCOLLIE
Contributing Writer
[email protected]

The men’s baseball team won two of three games on their road trip to North Carolina last weekend. The team battled William Peace University, Frostburg State and Pitt-Greensburg last Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

“I am very pleased,” said Coach Kelly Swiney. “We did really well offensively.”

The Gator offense totaled four runs against William Peace, defeating the Pacers by two in Friday’s game, their first matchup of the tournament. Seniors Kyle Davis and Mike Pezzone contributed two hits each, while rookie Jacob Schick finished the game 1-for-3 with a run scored.

Rookie Ian Frazier also contributed to the winning effort, adding a stolen base to the team’s five during the game, as well as scoring the tying run to make the game 1-1 off of an Eric Weyant, ’16, double to right center field. Weyant went on to score, giving Allegheny a 2-1 lead.

The Gators added two more runs in the sixth inning, kicked off by a Matt Sardini, ’16, single. He proceeded to steal second while Schick was at bat. Schick would send Sardini home, giving the Gators a 3-1 lead. Adam Bronson, ’15, then sent Schick to third off a sacrifice bunt. Later in the inning, Schick would score off of a Pacer pitcher’s error.

Despite their efforts, William Peace could not come back, as the Gators put forth a solid defensive effort. Eric Brandt, ’14, retired eight consecutive batters. Rookie Chris Boyer entered the game to relieve Brandt, pitching three innings and allowing only one hit, snagging the first save of his collegiate career.

In Saturday’s matchup, the Gators fell to Frostburg State, 13-12 in 11 innings.

“We were winning in the beginning, but they came back in the end. They are a 7-0 team so I am pleased with where we were,” said Swiney.

Weyant had a team-high of three hits, finishing the game 3-for-4. Pezzone added a homerun to the offensive effort in the first inning, and Joe Killian, ’16, tallied three scored runs and two hits. Nine Gator players contributed hits on the day.

The Bobcats put forth a strong offensive effort of their own. A pair of runs in the bottom of the second cut the lead to one, leaving the Gators up 3-2. Ben Murray, ’15, hit a single down the right field line to send Sardini home and give Allegheny a 4-2 lead.

Four runs in the sixth would give the Gators a 12-5 lead, but Frostburg State mounted a comeback in the eighth. A four-run, five-hit inning for the Bobcats would close the gap to 12-9. They would go on to tie the game at 12 in the ninth inning. Despite having the bases loaded in extra innings, the Gators were unable to capitalize, with Frostburg ending the game with a two-out single up the center.

“ They’re supposed to be a pretty good team so we knew we had to play well to win,” said Zach Gray ‘15.

After their loss to the Bobcats, the Gators faced off against Pitt-Greensburg Sunday. Another solid offensive performance gave Allegheny the 9-5 victory.

Allegheny totaled 12 hits on the day. Davis, Sardini, Pezzone, Weyant and Gray added two hits apiece.

Allegheny put forth a solid effort at the mound, with Steven Ramsdell, ’15, tallying five strikeouts in eight innings of play.

“This past week I really focused on fixing a few changes in my swing in order to get ready for the three games that we played down in North Carolina this past weekend,” said Weyant. “Overall, I got some good pitches to hit as well as drew some walks that allowed me to get on base which led to my teammates hitting me in.”

The Gators will be back in action for their annual spring break trip to Florida, where they will face off against five teams over a five-day span.