FORT SCOTT — Rasputin would have been proud.
Allen Community College rallied late, twice, in winning a pair of critical road games Sunday at Fort Scott Community College.
Allen broke a 2-2 tie with a three-run fifth inning, without a single hit during the game-winning rally. Reliever Patrick Babcock took it from there, tossing the last three innings of shutout baseball in a 5-3 win.
The main fireworks, however, were reserved for the nightcap.
The Red Devils trailed 4-0 in the top of the seventh before a pair of bases-loaded hit-by-pitches, followed by Josh Prinner’s two-run double tied the score.
Then, after Fort Scott opened its half of the seventh with back-to-back homers to take a 6-5 lead, Allen rallied for four more to retake the lead for good in a 9-7 victory.
The victories salvaged a four-game split for ACC, which saw Fort Scott follow a similar route to winning 9-5 and 11-8 over the Red Devils Friday.
The 2-2 split puts Allen at 13-15 in Jayhawk Conference play with a four-game series against Johnson County next weekend to wrap up the regular season. Allen, Coffeyville and Fort Scott are within two games of each other in conference play.
SUNDAY’S action included several late rallies, with Allen taking advantage of any opening Fort Scott provided.
Allen and Fort Scott played evenly through the early going of Sunday’s opener.
Levi Bennett singled and scored on Josh Prinner’s two-out double to give ACC a quick 1-0 lead, but the Greyhounds responded with Brody Szako’s leadoff home run in the bottom of the inning.
Bennett was hit by a pitch to lead off the third, Nathan Bach walked to put runners on first and second before Prinner’s sacrifice bunt led to Ayden Blachowicz’s RBI grounder.
Again, FSCC replied quickly to retie the score.
The game turned when Bennett was hit by another pitch with one out in the fifth. Bach walked and Prinner was hit by a pitch to load the bases. A wild pitch brought Bennett home for a 3-2 lead. Blachowicz collected his second RBI ground ball of the game for the second out. An error on Fort Scott’s catcher pushed the Red Devils on top, 5-2.
A Greyhound single and double to lead off the bottom of the fifth sliced ACC’s lead to 5-3, prompting Allen head coach Clint Stoy to summon Babcock.
An infield single and sacrifice bunt put the tying runs in scoring position, but Babcock slammed the door with a ground ball to third and a strikeout.
