Game One Box l Game Two Box

Meadville, PA – The Oberlin College baseball team found itself on the wrong end of two very different games, but unfortunately the end result was the same as the Yeomen dropped a game-one pitcher's duel, 2-1, before falling 13-9 in a slugfest in the nightcap.

In the lid-lifter Yeomen ace Eric Knight had his tough luck and lack of run support continue as he allowed just two hits and two unearned runs in the complete-game loss. Knight, a native of Scottsdale, Arizona, struck out five and walked just two. He threw 96 pitches in the contest, 62 of which went for strikes.

Oberlin got on the board first in the top of the fourth inning. Rookie Ben Whitener drew a lead off walk and then went to third on Knight's double to left field. Whitener then come across to score on a squeeze bunt by Zach Kisley.

In the home half of the fourth the Gators would get back to even thanks to some sloppy play by the Yeomen defense which resulted in an unearned run to come across the plate.

In the fifth the Gators would take the lead for good as they used just one hit combined with another OC miscue, a walk and hit batter to scratch across what proved to be the game-winning run.

In the sixth, the Yeomen had two runners on with just one out, but couldn't come up with a timely hit to bring them around.

Gators' starter Kyle Davis was equally as impressive as Knight as the Yeomen mustered just two hits off of him in the complete-game victory. He recorded five punchouts and walked four.

After falling behind early in game two, the Yeomen rallied from a 7-2 deficit to take a 9-7 lead heading into the bottom half of the seventh inning.

The Gators scored three runs in the first two innings off of Yeomen starter Jason James, who had entered the game on a streak of 15 innings of shutout baseball. In the third inning, James was chased from the game after allowing six hits and four walks in just 2.1 innings. His defense also didn't help his cause as of the seven runs he allowed just two were earned.

Rookie Justin Kidd then took over and did an outstanding job in keeping the Yeomen in the game as he tossed 3.2 innings of scoreless relief.

Oberlin got its first two runs of the game in the third inning on a two-run single by Knight before exploding for four runs in the sixth. Three straight singles to start the inning by #Jeff Schweighoffer, Whitener and Kisley got the rally going. Kisley's sent Schweighoffer home for the first run of the frame. Mike McDonald then followed with a two-run double to center before sophomore Steve DiNanno sent an opposite-field single down the left field line to plate McDonald.

In the seventh inning, the same group of guys came through to add three more runs for the Yeomen. A pair of walks to start the inning put Oberlin in drivers seat to score some runs and that is exactly what they did. Kisley's single allowed Sean Cohen to score and then McDonald and DiNanno each added RBI's to make it a 9-7 Yeomen advantage.

With a two-run lead and nine outs left to get, the Yeomen turned their closer in McDonald, but unfortunately the sidearm specialist from Weston, Connecticut, did not have it on this day as the Gators touched him up for six runs on five hits. He also walked two.

Allegheny plated one off of McDonald in the seventh before scoring five runs in the eighth en route to the win.

With the losses, Oberlin fell to 16-16 overall and 5-5 in the NCAC. Meanwhile, the Gators improved to 12-15 and went to 6-0 in the NCAC.

These same two teams will conclude their four-game weekend series tomorrow afternoon. First pitch of the doubleheader is set for noon.