MEADVILLE, Pa. -- The Allegheny College baseball team ended its conference schedule by splitting a pair of Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) games with the Presidents of Washington and Jefferson College on Senior Day.

Although the Presidents (28-12, 16-4 PAC) secured the top seed in the PAC Championship Tournament by winning the opening contest, 6-4, the Gators (25-12, 14-6 PAC) rebounded to win the nightcap, 8-1.

Before the doubleheader, Allegheny honored its senior athletes: Andrew Stablewski (Buffalo, N.Y./St. Joseph's Collegiate Academy), Ryan Dougherty (Wexford, Pa./North Allegheny), Jonathan Sharp (Chardon, Ohio/Notre Dame Cathedral Latin), Brent Herrmann (Canfield, Ohio/Canfield), Anthony Maslo (Wexford, Pa./North Allegheny), Patrick Page (Columbus, Ohio/Bishop Hartley), Garrett Senchur (Irwin, Pa./Norwin), Preston Pierce (Camano Island, Wash./Stanwood), John Doney (Tampa, Fla./Tampa Prep), and Turner Bubeck (Katy, Texas/Katy Taylor).

W&J 6, Allegheny 4
The Presidents rode a five-run fourth inning to the win in the early game. The Gators made things interesting in the late innings, but they were unable to come back in the ninth.

Herrmann scattered a few hits and stranded a few Presidents on base in the first three innings. However, the southpaw starter found himself in trouble in the fourth. He issued two walks and plunked two more to force in the first run of the day. With the bases loaded, W&J broke the game open by scoring thrice on a base hit and an error in the outfield. 

Doney, a fellow senior, entered in relief and extinguished the flames. Not only did he get out of the fourth inning, but he finished the game on the mound for the Gators. In the longest outing of his career, the righty surrendered only one run on four hits and struck out three.

After scoring one in the bottom of the fourth to make it a 5-1 score, the Gators put runners in scoring position in each of the last five innings. Although Allegheny threatened, the Gators waited until the ninth to push across more runs. The Blue and Gold loaded the bases twice in the inning, and Alejandro Samayoa (Katonah, N.Y./John Jay Cross River) cut the deficit to 6-4 with a two-run base knock. 

Representing the winning run, Stablewski came to the plate with runners on the corners, but the senior flew out to end the Allegheny rally.

Allegheny 5, W&J 0
As the Presidents did in the first game, Allegheny struck first with a five-run inning and chased starter Dante DiMatteo from the mound with an explosive third frame. The biggest blow came from Tyson Bryant-Dawson (Oakland, Calif./Manvel (Texas)), who turned a 3-0 lead into a five-run advantage with a loud home run over the wall in left.

That would be all the offense needed for first-year pitcher Dawson Thomas (Conneaut, Pa./Conneaut Area). The right-handed freshman stole the show from the seniors with the longest outing of his young career. Thomas carried a one-hit shutout into the top of the ninth and was given an opportunity to close the game, but was pulled in favor of Mark Schweickert (Richmond, Va./John Randolph Tucker) after putting two Presidents on base. In total, Thomas allowed just one run on two hits and struck out six without issuing a walk.

Thomas received three insurance runs in the eighth as the Gators widened the gap to 8-0. After consecutive walks to Brady Nolin (Cumberland, Maine/Greely) and William Wolff (Naples, Fla./Gulf Coast), Maslo and Grant Dowden (Ligonier, Pa./Ligonier Valley) slugged back-to-back doubles to opposite corners of the outfield to plate all three Allegheny runs in the inning.

Inside the Box Score - Game 1

• The Gators finished with a 12-to-8 advantage in hits and had the game's only extra-base hits.
• Jennings led all Allegheny batters with three hits.
• Bryant-Dawson, Nolin, and Samayoa each had two hits.
• Samayoa paced the Gators with two RBIs.
• Doney tossed the last 5.1 innings and allowed just one run with three strikeouts.
• Anthony Pass earned the win for the Presidents with 5.0 innings of one-run ball and five strikeouts.

Inside the Box Score - Game 2

• Thomas and Schweickert held the Presidents to just one run on three hits in the late game.
• Thomas logged 8.0 two-hit innings and struck out six.
• Schweickert surrendered one hit and struck out two in the ninth.
• Offensively, the Gators recorded eight runs on nine hits, which included three doubles and a home run.
• Bryant-Dawson and Dowden both finished 2-for-4 at the plate.
• Bryant-Dawson and Maslo each drove in a team-high two runs.

News and Notes

• With one game left in the regular season, Allegheny sits at 25-12 overall with a 14-6 record against PAC opponents.
• The Gators will enter the 2024 PAC Championship Tournament as the No. 4 seed.
• Thomas improved to 6-1 on the mound and is tied for the most wins on the team.
• Thomas logged season highs in innings (8.0) and strikeouts (6) against W&J.
• Jennings continued his impressive on-base streak and now reached in all 37 games played so far in 2024.
• Jennings also extended his hit streak to 30 in a row.
• Bryant-Dawson leads the team in home runs with seven, just one shy of the most in the conference.

Up Next
Allegheny concludes the 2024 regular season with a road trip to No. 4 nationally-ranked Baldwin Wallace University. The non-conference contest is scheduled for Sunday, May 5, at 1:00 p.m.