MEADVILLE, Pa. – The Allegheny offense belted 18 hits, including six for extra bases, in the Gators 16-3 non-conference victory over visiting Thiel.
 
Ten different players recorded at least one hit for the Allegheny (18-10), while six turned in multi-hit games, as the Gators won their fourth straight.
 
Robert DiMaggio and Cullen Flaherty each recorded three hits and scored two runs, with DiMaggio's effort including a home run and Flaherty a double.  Vincent Carone, Andrew Dawson, and Ethan Pawlak each had two hits apiece, while Jacob Shick also smacked his third homer of the year.
 
It was more than enough run support for starter Joe Nagel, who started and earned the win after working 5.1 innings and allowed two runs on eight hits with two strikeouts.
 
The Gators used some small ball to score their first run in the bottom of the second. DiMaggio led off the frame with a single, and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Pawlak.  Brandon Pouch then followed with a single, putting runners at the corners, before the duo executed a perfect double steal, with DiMaggio crossing the plate as Pouch drew the throw to second.
 
Allegheny added onto the lead in the bottom of the third. Flaherty opened the inning with a single, and subsequently scored on Dawson's RBI double to the right field corner. On the very next pitch, Shick sent a line drive blast over the fence in left center to plate Dawson and put the Gators up 4-1.
 
Thiel cut into the deficit in the top of the fourth, scoring two runs on four hits to make it a one-run game, but it was as close as they would get for the remainder of the game.
 
In the bottom of the fourth, Carone led off with a single, and Flaherty singled to put runners at the corners. Dawson then executed a perfect safety squeeze, dropping the bunt between home plate and the mound to plate Carone and make the score 5-1.
 
Allegheny broke the game wide open in the bottom of the fifth.  DiMaggio led off the frame with a home run to left field, and by the time the inning was over, the Gators added six runs to push the lead to 11-1.  Ten men came to the plate and seven tallied a hit in the fateful frame, with RBI singles from Pouch and Dawson and a two-run double from Flaherty joining DiMaggio's bomb as highlights of the inning.
 
The Gators continued to add on to the hefty lead, with an RBI groundout from Pouch and a run-scoring single from Bristol making the score 13-1 in the seventh, before they put the exclamation mark on the win with a three-run eighth inning.  Bret Kelly tallied his first career RBI with a run-scoring single in the frame, before Cy Perry and Keegan Phillips added RBI groundouts to produce the final 16-3 margin.
 
Nagel was the first of four Gator pitchers to work on the day, with Nick DiBucci (1.2 innings) and Patrick Orr (1.0 innings) each unscored upon. Orr recorded two of his three outs via strikeout as he closed out the win with a perfect ninth.
 
Thiel (17-11) totaled 11 hits on the day, but left seven men on base and hit into a pair of double plays.  Nick Grice (2-for-2) and Nick Fowkes (2-for-5) tallied multi-hit days.  The Tomcats' J.T. Bowen started and took the loss, allowing seven runs on 10 hits in four innings of work. 
 
The Gators will now return to North Coast Athletic Conference play to close out a busy week, as they will travel to Hiram for a pair of 12 p.m. doubleheaders on Saturday and Sunday.