A funny thing happened on the way to the win column Thursday.
Allen Community College’s Red Devils had already claimed a 10-6 victory over visiting Coffeyville, and were well on the way to a doubleheader sweep.
But a nine-run Red Raven rally in the top of the eighth erased a 4-1 ACC lead.
Allen mounted a comeback attempt of its own in the bottom of the ninth, when Nathan Bach blasted a three-run home run to cut the deficit to 10-7.
But Allen drew no closer, falling to 19-15 on the season and 8-10 in Jayhawk Conference play.
The teams are in Coffeyville Saturday for two more games to wrap up the four-game series.
The setback spoiled solid pitching from ACC starter Logan MacNeil and Caleb Patterson. MacNeil struck out five over four innings, while allowing just three hits and a fourth-inning run.
Meanwhile, Allen’s Levi Bennett’s RBI double gave Allen a quick 1-0 lead in the first. Christian Altamirano made it 2-0 with a two-out single in the second.
Then Josh Prinner and Bennett singled to kick-start a two-run rally to make it 3-0 in the third. Tanner Strickland’s bunt single made it 4-0.
But Allen stranded two baserunners in the sixth, and had a runner gunned down at third to end the seventh, opening the door for Coffeyville to take control in the eighth.
Jack Neil and Luke Carter also pitched in relief for the Red Devils. Neil gave up five hits, while Carter surrendered two.
Bennett and Strickland each went 3-for-4 with a double to key the offense. Bach’s home run capped a 2-for-5 performance with four RBIs. Altamirano singled twice. Fraai Roangeraud, Prinner, Ayden Blachowicz and Lucas Banta added singles.
A PAIR of five-run rallies — the second starting with nobody on and two out in the sixth — did the trick for Allen in the opener.
Prinner’s one-out triple got things started for the Red Devils in the first inning. Bennett followed with an RBI single, Bach smacked a single to put runners on the corners and Bennett made it 2-1 on a wild pitch. Sean Gomez Jr. poked a single through the right side to make it 3-1, and two more runs came home on Banta’s pop fly that Coffeyville’s first baseman misplayed for an error.
But Kyle Carver was thrown out at the plate trying to score on the same play, which loomed large after the Ravens slowly chipped away at the lead, and then took a 6-5 lead in the top of the sixth.
