CHANUTE — Allen Community College withstood a late Neosho County rally Thursday, defeating the Panthers 6-4 on the baseball diamond.
But Neosho County returned the favor in the nightcap, fending off a late Red Devil rally in a 4-2 victory.
The split comes in Neosho County’s half of the four-game series.
The final two games are set for Saturday afternoon at Allen.
Allen had control early in the opener.
Ayden Blachowicz led off the second with a double and scored on a Sean Gomez Jr. single with one out.
Levi Bennett got things going with a two-run double in the top of the third. He came home when Nathan Bach mashed the next pitch for an RBI double and a 4-0 lead.
Josh Prinner then made it 5-1 when he singled to lead off the fifth and came around to score on an error following Bach’s one-out single.
Lucas Banta continued the fun with a solo home run in the sixth.
But the Panthers didn’t go quietly. An Allen error with runners on first and third, followed by an RBI single and a hit batter suddenly pulled Neosho County to within 6-4 with one out and the bases loaded.
Jack Neil came in to put out the fire with a strikeout and pop-up to end the threat. He then worked around a two-out double in the bottom of the seventh to earn the save.
Bach paced the offense, going 3-for-4 with a double and two RBIs. Banta had a solo home run, while Fraai Roangeraud went 2-for-4 with a double. Bennett also had a double, while Banta had a home run. Gomez and Christian Altamirano had singles.
Sawyer Rolland picked up the win, allowing four hits with eight strikeouts, while pitching into the sixth.
THE SECOND game — a nine-inning affair — started as a pitcher’s duel between Allen’s Logan MacNiel and Neosho’s Brady Pacha.
MacNiel was perfect through four innings before Allen scratched across a run with Roangeraud driving in Altamirano with a single in the sixth for a 1-0 lead.
But Neosho rallied to tie the score with an RBI single in the sixth, and then took the lead with a two-out single in the seventh.
