Scots Pick Up Crucial NCAC East Sweep Over Gators

The College of Wooster's baseball team broke open a 6-6 tie with a five-run sixth inning en route to taking Saturday's nightcap from visiting Allegheny College 11-6, while earlier in the day, the Fighting Scots were victorious against the Gators 6-2 at Art Murray Field.

Wooster (11-5, 6-2 North Coast Athletic Conference East Division) took the lead in the week's finale on senior Noah Clement's pinch hit double. That brought in senior second baseman Gabe Sherman, who legged out a one-out infield single. Junior short stop Tyler Chumita made it an 8-6 contest with a RBI knock up the middle, and two batters later, junior center fielder Ben Gbur's single through the left side upped Wooster's lead to 9-6. After Gbur stole second to put two runners in scoring position, sophomore first baseman Dane Camphausen laced an 0-2 pitch into left field for a two-run single, and that knock capped the decisive inning.

Wooster, which was dealt a 3-0 hole before coming to bat in game two, answered right back. Chumita walked to start the Scots' half of the inning, with Gbur reaching two batters later via a hit by pitch. Camphausen made Allegheny (4-3, 1-3 NCAC East Division) starter Daniel Morgano pay for the free passes by blasting a 1-2 offering well over the left field fence for a three-run round-tripper.

Chumita's RBI double staked Wooster to a 4-3 lead in the bottom of the second, while Allegheny struck for two in the third to take a 5-4 lead and one in the fourth, which put the Gators up 6-5. Junior catcher Alex Gasper's dinger tied the game at five in the third. In the fifth, Gbur stole second, and on the play, Allegheny catcher Brayden Cartwright looked to back pick junior right fielder Ben Hines at third base, only to overthrow Gator third baseman Luke Chutko, which enabled the tying run to score.

Senior Evan Faxon (2-1) picked up the win in game two, allowing one run on four hits in 3 2/3 innings. Junior Mitchell Reardon came on in the seventh and recorded the final two outs.

Camphausen went 2-for-4 with five RBI in the week's finale, while Chumita added two hits, two RBI, and two runs scored.

Allegheny's Brett Heckert hit his second home run of the day in game two, while Ryan Dougherty added two hits and two RBI. Anthony Vazquez took the loss, falling to 0-1. He allowed two runs on two hits in 1 1/3 innings.

Wooster won game one despite having just four hits, and that's because the Scots kept wearing pitches. Five Wooster batters reached base via hit by pitches, including Chumita, who was plunked three times. That tied the single-game Wooster record, and in fact, it's the second time Chumita's got drilled three times in a game during his career.

The big knock offensively came in the second inning when a routine single by Gbur took a wicked hop once it found the outfield grass, and that resulted in a go-ahead, three-run triple. Prior to that, Chumita plated a run when he was drilled with a 1-1 offering from Bobby Kusinsky with the bases loaded.

In the fourth inning, Chumita scored on a wild pitch, while in the sixth, Camphausen's double plated Gbur, who reached on a fielder's choice and stole second.

Gbur went 2-for-4 with three RBI in the opening game. Chutko also had two hits to lead the Gators.

Sophomore Christian Johnston evened out his record at 2-2. The left-hander allowed two runs on five hits in 4 1/3 innings. Junior Colin Springer took over in the fifth and picked up the save with 2 2/3 scoreless innings, during which he struck out five. Springer, who inherited two runners, punched out the first four Gators he faced.

Kusinsky (1-1) took the loss after allowing five runs on three hits in 3 1/3 innings.

Next, Wooster's at Kenyon College (1-1, 1-1 NCAC East) for a doubleheader on Saturday, April 17. First pitch is set for noon.