MEADVILLE, Pa. – Great pitching and timely hitting was the formula for success Saturday afternoon as the Allegheny baseball team broke their four-game skid with a doubleheader sweep of Wabash College; 2-1, 4-0. Both games were the definition of pitcher's duels throughout with neither team calling on their bullpen all afternoon.
Senior right-hander Mike Pereslucha took the ball in a matchup of frontline pitchers in game one, and pitched to that level. Pereslucha went the distance for the first time this season against the Little Giants (11-18, 4-4 NCAC) going seven strong innings, scattering four hits, striking out six batters, and giving up only one earned run on a sacrifice fly in the top of the fifth inning.
In that fifth inning the Little Giants led off with a double down the left field line, just past the diving Aaron Lynch. A prompt sacrifice bunt moved the runner to third base with one out in the inning. The following batter for the Little Giants would do his job and lofted a ball to left field that was deep enough to plate the first run of the game. The turning point of the game came on the very next Little Giant batter, John Pennington. Pennington got a pitch to his liking and drove it out to left field. Off the bat, it looked like it might have a chance to leave the yard, but sophomore left fielder Phil Morrissette ranged back, twisted around once, and leaped at the wall to pull the ball back into the park to end the inning.
The momentum of the game-saving catch carried over into the Gators' (10-10, 4-4 NCAC) next at-bat in the bottom half of the frame. After a groundout by Zack Nichols, Morrissette delivered a solid single through the right side. A strikeout of Lynch kept Morrissette on first, now with two outs. Next up was leadoff hitter Eric Hansen. Already with two homeruns on the year, and none since the Gators' upset win over UW-Stevens Point, there was a feeling in the air that Hansen was due for a big fly. The feeling was realized as truth as Hansen hammered a ball out to left field to put the Gators on top 2-1.
Pereslucha would do the rest from there. He would not give up a hit, and stranded a base runner in the sixth and seventh innings to pick up the complete game victory.
The great pitching for both teams carried over into game two. For the Gators, rookie right-hander Kyle Davis toed the rubber, and even though Pereslucha provided a tough performance to follow in game one, Davis answered the bell and turned in an even better outing tossing a complete game shutout in which he struck out seven batters, issued only one walk, and surrendered just three hits. It is the third time that Davis has gone the distance in his start and it is his first collegiate shutout. In six starts this season, Davis is 5-1 on the mound.
Until the bottom of the fourth inning, Little Giants' game two starter Brian Van Duyn was matching Davis pitch-for-pitch, but in the fourth, the Gators finally got to Van Duyn for three runs. With two outs in the inning, Matt Stahl delivered a RBI single through the right side that scored Jeff Dassner from second base. The big blow came in the next at-bat when Pereslucha, now playing first base, drilled a Van Duyn offering, sending it over the left field wall for a two-run wooden bat bomb.
The Gators would add and insurance run in the bottom of the sixth inning to take a 4-0 lead. Davis would make that score hold up as he gave up just one hit over the final three innings.
Next up for the Gators will be a conference double-dip against Ohio Wesleyan on Sunday, April 10th. First pitch is scheduled for 12:00 p.m.