Stu Beath

Stu Beath singled in Chris Wood for the decisive run during the top of the 10th inning, and Tyler Fugate set down Allegheny College in order in the bottom of the frame, as The College of Wooster salvaged a split with its North Coast Athletic Conference East Division rival via a 2-1 game-two victory in Saturday's twinbill at Meadville, Pa. Allegheny had taken the opener by the same score, doing so in dramatic fashion with a walk-off homer by Zack Nichols.

The two teams' previous doubleheader this year played out similarly, with Wooster edging the Gators 3-1 and then falling 2-0.

After Nichols' heroics, the Fighting Scots (18-6, 5-3 NCAC East) settled in for yet another pitcher's duel with Allegheny (13-7, 6-2 NCAC East). Wooster scratched one run across during the top of the second when Greg Van Horn had a leadoff single, moved to second on an error, and came all the way around on a Michael Wellstead base knock.

With Matt Barnes keeping the Gators' bats quiet, it remained 1-0 up until the bottom of the sixth. That frame, they tied it on Ben Lowmaster's second double of the day, but Van Horn helped avert further damage as the shortstop snagged a liner out of the air as part of an unassisted double play.

Neither team threatened in the seventh, nor in extra innings until the 10th. Wood led off with a single, advanced to second courtesy of a sacrifice bunt by Luke Sutton, and Beath followed with what turned out to be the game-winner, a base knock to centerfield.

Fugate had taken over for Barnes in the seventh and was nearly untouchable for the second-straight outing. He faced just one batter over the minimum, yielding a single to Lowmaster, and struck out seven without a walk over 4.0 innings. He improved to 4-1, two days after notching a four-inning save at Marietta College.

In the first game, the two teams exchanged single tallies in the first inning. Matthew Johnson opened the day with a single and scored thanks to back-to-back two out singles from Matt Groezinger and Van Horn.

Both offenses were shutout until the bottom of the seventh when Nichols drove one out, clearing the fence in left field, for his first home run this season. It came off Scot starter Justin McDowell, who slipped to 4-2 after giving up the two runs on five hits while striking out 11.

Overall, Johnson batted 4-for-9 to pace Wooster, while Beath and Zack Vesco finished with three hits apiece, all of them coming in the nightcap for both.

The Scots will stay in northwestern Pennsylvania to face Penn State Behrend (15-7) for two on Sunday, beginning at 1 p.m.