Jake Kail

Tyler Schuch

The College of Wooster came back from five-run deficits in each of its games Monday with Allegheny College, as the Fighting Scots used a 10-run sixth inning to take the opener 12-11, then scored three times during the top of the ninth to push the second game to extras and eventually prevailed 7-6 in 12 innings to sweep the Gators in a key North Coast Athletic Conference East Division series, played at Eastwood Field in Niles, Ohio.

Wooster (14-2, 3-1 NCAC East) trailed 6-1 entering the sixth, the second-to-last inning of game one, when it turned things around with seven consecutive batters reaching safely. The rally started with one out, as John McLain singled, Joey Gilmore took a hit by pitch, Kevin Hagen sent an RBI single up the middle, Ryan Ostendorf walked, pinch hitter Jacob Solomon drove in two with another base knock up the middle, Jake Fling was hit by a pitch, and Drew Tornow drew a bases-loaded walk.

That brought the Scots within one run, then Frank Vance tied it via a fielder's choice play, but they were not done yet. With two outs, McLain gave Wooster the lead on an RBI single, Gilmore singled to right to plate two, Hagen reached via an error, and Ostendorf walked before the inning finally came to an end, with Wooster gaining an 11-6 advantage.

Allegheny (7-8, 1-3 NCAC East) bounced back with four tallies during its half of the sixth, featuring a two-run single off the bat of Joe Killian, to make it 11-10 heading into the final inning.

Tornow and Jamie Lackner each doubled to give the Scots what turned out to be a much-needed insurance run.

In the bottom of the seventh, the Gators pulled within one again and put runners on first and second with one out when Wooster closer Michael Whitaker induced a game-ending 4-6-3 double play for his third save of the season.

Hank Schlueter improved to 3-0, as he worked 3.0 innings of middle relief.

The nightcap played out very similarly, as Allegheny jumped out to a 5-0 lead through three innings (the Gators were ahead 6-1 through three in the first game).

The Scots started chipping away in the fifth inning, as a one-out triple by McLain and single by Gilmore resulted in one run. After Gilmore advanced to second, Kenny Reckart drove him home by finding a hole through the right side to pull Wooster within 5-2.

After Allegheny got one back during the bottom of that frame, the Gilmore-Reckart combination worked for another run in the seventh inning, with a leadoff double from the former and a one-out sacrifice fly from the latter this time.

It was still 6-3 going into the top of the ninth and the Scots' first hitter struck out. Solomon began the rally by taking a hit by pitch and then they got a little more help as the Gators committed an error. Pinch hitter Chris Fafalios singled in pinch runner Cal Miller for the first run, however, a batter later, Wooster was down to its last out.

Coming through with the clutch RBI hits were Jake Kail and Tyler Schuch, Kail singling a 3-2 pitch into right and Schuch taking an 0-1 offering into left field for the equalizer.

Each offense got the winning run into scoring position during the 10th inning to no avail.

Vance opened the visitors' half of the 12th by pulling a triple into the right-center gap, marking his second three-bagger of the game, and he scored the winning tally on a one-out wild pitch.

Whitaker again closed things out, this time capping 2.2 scoreless innings with a 1-2-3 12th. He upped his season record to 3-0.

Offensively on the day, McLain led all players with five hits (5-for-10).

The Scots will return home to face Marietta College (11-7) on Wednesday at 4 p.m.