CHANUTE — Some sterling relief pitching and clutch hitting allowed Allen Community College’s Red Devils to win their 10th in a row over rival Neosho County Thursday.
Alas, the jubilation was short-lived. Neosho bounced back to break a scoreless deadlock with a five-run fourth inning to win the nightcap, 7-1.
The doubleheader split opens Jayhawk Conference play for Allen (11-3) which is scheduled to wrap up its four-game set with a doubleheader in Chanute this afternoon, weather permitting.
The Red Devils still have not played a home game, and likely will not for a few more weeks while crews continue installing a new turf infield at the ACC complex.
That means local fans will have to watch online or do some traveling to watch standout performers like Allen’s Levi Bennett, who pitched four perfect innings of relief to pick up the win in Thursday’s opener.
He entered in the bottom of the fifth and the game deadlocked at 5-5.
There it stood through seven until ACC broke open the game with three in the top of the eighth.
Back-to-back doubles by Alec Roberts and Lukas Rich off Neosho reliever Tyler McQuinn with one out put ACC on top, 6-5. Damon Burroughs followed with a double to advance Rich to third, where Colton Patterson and Josh Prinner each followed with RBI singles with two out to cap the scoring.
The Red Devils rapped out 12 hits in the victory, including Burroughs’s three-run home run in the top of the third to put the Red Devils in front, 5-1. In all, Burroughs had two doubles to go with his home run, scoring twice and driving in three.
Roberts also went 3-for-4 with a double.
Jacob Davenport started, allowing three hits and three walks in two innings, with a strikeout. Brian Beers allowed three hits over his two innings of work, striking out three, while allowing an unearned run.
Roberts knocked in the game’s first run with an RBI single in the top of the first. McCain’s RBI grounder scored Jonah Weisner in the third, prior to Burroughs’s homer.
THE HITS were much more scarce in the second game.
Levi Bennett singled with one out in the first, and Colton Patterson had a single and scored on a wild pitch in the fifth to account for Allen’s offense.
Meanwhile, the Panthers strung together five hits and two walks before ACC pitchers could retire a batter in the bottom of the fourth to take a 5-0 lead.
Up until then, Allen’s Josh Fluet was masterful. He wound up surrenderingspt-a five hits in his three innings of work. Luke Carter came on in relief and surrendered one hit and an unearned run in three innings of work, with five strikeouts.
