MEADVILLE, Pa. -- The Allegheny College baseball team took a pair of games off the University of Rochester on a sunny Saturday afternoon at Robert M. Garbark Field by scores of 3-0 and 6-5.

Both games were close, and the Gators (6-5) saw both sides of the ball lead them to victory. Pitching was the key in the opening game, and a clutch hitting sparked a walk-off in the nightcap against the Yellowjackets (4-8).

Allegheny 3, Rochester 0
Brent Herrmann (Canfield, Ohio/Canfield) pitched the best game of his career, going the distance in a complete-game shutout. Allowing just two hits, Rochester could barely touch him en route to his second win of the season. The southpaw, who threw 131 pitches in his nine-inning gem, struck out six while leading the Gators to a 3-0 victory in the matinee.

The series opener was quiet offensively through the early stages, as neither team produced a hit through the first three innings. But Allegheny found the scoreboard in the fourth inning, which began with a walk from Brady Nolin (Cumberland, Maine/Greely). After a single and a hit-by-pitch, Jonathan Sharp (Chardon, Ohio/Notre Dame Cathedral Latin) took a called strike on a borderline pitch with a 3-1 count. On the pitch, Nolin broke for home when the Yellowjackets' catcher threw the ball back to the pitcher and successfully scored with a rare steal of home.

The Gators added two more in the sixth inning. After a pair of infield base hits by Tommaso Floro (Sewickley Pa./Quaker Valley) and Sharp, Tyson Bryant-Dawson (Oakland, Calif./Manvel (Texas)) laced a two-out single up the middle to bring home a pair of insurance runs and finalize the scoring.

Allegheny 6, Rochester 5
Allegheny struck first in the back end of the doubleheader. Capitalizing on a pair of errors from the Yellowjacket defense, Bryant-Dawson stepped to the plate and roped his second single of the series, bringing home another pair of RBIs in the second inning. 

The Gators' pitching was again terrific through the first handful of innings. Mark Schweickert (Richmond, Va./John Randolph Tucker) dealt a shutout until the sixth frame when the starter surrendered a trio of runs. Despite exiting the game with his team trailing, he finished the day with a quality start in his longest outing on the mound this spring.

In a back-and-forth contest, Allegheny retook the lead in the seventh inning before adding another in the eighth. Rochester answered in their final chance in the ninth, tying the game on a two-run single to right center, which tied the game at 5-all.

Nolin sparked the Gator offense in the final frame with a two-out single to right field. In the final at-bat, JD Robinson (Round Hill, Va./Woodgrove) rifled a fastball to the wall in dead center. On the play, Nolin got a good secondary lead and was able to score from first base, giving Allegheny the win in walk-off fashion.

Inside the Box Score - Game 1

• Allegheny outhit Rochester, 7-to-2
• Floro paced the Gators with a pair of knocks.
• Bryant-Dawson brought home two of Allegheny's three runs.
• Herrmann allowed just two hits with three walks while striking out six in 9.0 innings pitched.
• The opener was a quick nine-inning contest, lasting two hours and five minutes from the opening pitch.

Inside the Box Score - Game 2

• The Yellowjackets outhit the Gators, 9-to-8, in the latter contest.
• Bryant-Dawson and Robinson each had a pair of hits, going 2-for-4 at the plate.
• Bryant-Dawson ended the day with four RBIs after picking up two more in the nightcap.
• Schweickert threw 6.0 innings and allowed three runs on six hits.
• The right-hander walked two and struck out seven in a no-decision.
• Dawson Thomas (Conneaut, Pa./Conneaut Area) played damage control in the ninth after Rochester tied the game at 5-all and did not allow another baserunner.

News and Notes

• Allegheny moved back above .500 with the two wins and earned its third sweep of the season.
• The Gators, who played Rochester for the first time since 1999, took a 5-4 lead in the all-time series.
• Herrmann is the first Allegheny pitcher to throw 9.0 innings in a complete game since the 2019 season.
• Herrmann is the first Gator with a nine-inning shutout since Robert Julian '17 did so in a 3-0 win over Denison University on May 3, 2015.
• Herrmann earned the 10th win of her career with his performance today.
• Matt Jennings (Birmingham, Mich./Brother Rice) extended his team-leading on-base streak to 11 in a row with a hit in each contest on Saturday.
• Allegheny's walk-off win in the late game was the first since March 8, 2023, when the Gators beat Gustavus Adolphus College, 14-13, during spring break in Arizona.

Up Next
The Gators will finalize their weekend at home on Sunday, March 17, with a single game against Oberlin College. The first pitch is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. at Garbark Field.