MUNHALL, Pa. -- The Allegheny College baseball team extended its win streak to 4-0 to begin Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) action with a doubleheader sweep against Chatham University at West Field on Saturday.
The Gators (11-8, 4-0 PAC) scored eight runs in the last three innings to beat the Cougars (10-12, 2-4 PAC) in the opening contest, 12-9, then rode an exceptional performance from Walker Cunningham (Cambridge Springs, Pa./Cambridge Springs) to a 4-1 victory in the nightcap.
Allegheny 12, Chatham 9
Down 5-4 after six innings, Allegheny found new life in the late innings and completed the comeback against the Cougars. Alejandro Samayoa (Katonah, N.Y./John Jay Cross River) and Nick Banez (Edmonds, Wash./Meadowdale) came through with the biggest hits of the game with a pair of two-out, two-run doubles. Not to be outdone, JD Robinson (Round Hill, Va./Woodgrove) added another two-run two-bagger in the eighth, and Tyson Bryant-Dawson (Oakland, Calif./Manvel (Texas)) doubled and scored an insurance run in the ninth.
Bryant-Dawson then moved from left field to the mound to close out the bottom half of the ninth. Although it wasn't a save situation, the do-it-all senior preserved the win for starter Mark Schweickert (Richmond, Va./John Randolph Tucker), who allowed five runs with four strikeouts in 6.0 innings of work.
Allegheny 4, Chatham 1
The best pitching performance thus far in the 2025 campaign came from Cunningham in the second half of Saturday's doubleheader. The senior righty scattered one run on seven hits with nine strikeouts across 8.1 innings. After Cunningham faced the first two batters of the ninth, Ben Shields (Charleroi, Pa./Charleroi Area) entered in relief and wasted no time getting Chatham's Ty Blackburn to line into a double play to end the inning.
Half of Allegheny's run support came in the fifth inning. With the score knotted at 1-1, Banez doubled and scored on a Matt Jennings (Birmingham, Mich./Brother Rice) RBI base hit to jump ahead, 2-1. Jennings then swiped second and came around to score on a base hit from Tyler Skaggs (Champion Heights, Ohio/Champion), which chased Chatham starter Cooper Baxter from the mound.
Inside the Box Score: Game 1
- The Gators led 4-1 after three innings, but needed eight runs across the last three to secure the win.
- Half of Allegheny's 14 hits went for extra bases, including six doubles and one home run.
- Every Gator with a plate appearance had a hit, run, or RBI.
- Bryant-Dawson finished 3-for-6 with a solo home run, two runs, and two RBIs.
- Samayoa batted 3-for-5 with two runs and two RBIs.
- Jennings and Liam Irving (Olney, Md./Sherwood) both had two hits, one run, and one RBI.
- Baxter, who started at shortstop in the series opener, batted 2-for-3 with a solo homer for Chatham.
Inside the Box Score: Game 2
- Both teams finished with seven hits in the late game.
- Cunningham tossed an incredible game with nine strikeouts and only one run allowed in 8.1 innings.
- Shields only faced one batter, but he saved the victory with a double play on a liner to third base.
- Skaggs was the only Gator with multiple hits, going 2-for-4 with one run and one RBI.
- Chatham's Eddie Rueda led all batters with three hits.
- Baxter received the loss for the Cougars after surrendering three runs on five hits in 4.2 innings.
News and Notes
- Allegheny has won four consecutive games and opened the season 4-0 against PAC opponents.
- The Gators have won five in a row against Chatham and are 5-1 all-time against the Cougars since rejoining the PAC.
- Bryant-Dawson's home run in the early game was his team-leading fourth of the season.
- Bryant-Dawson and Jennings extended their on-base streaks to 17 consecutive contests.
- Cunningham improved to 3-0 this spring with the longest outing of his career.
Up Next
Weather permitting, the Gators will host Oberlin College on Sunday, March 30, at 2:00 p.m. at Robert M. Garbark '32 Field.