Trailing by seven runs after two innings, the Centre College baseball team rallied to defeat the College of Mount St. Joseph 16-13 and extend its winning streak to five games Wednesday, March 7 at Marge Schott Stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio.
The Colonels jumped out to an early 1-0 lead as junior outfielder Danny Freudiger (Cincinnati, Ohio) led off the game with a solo home run to right field, his first of the season.
That lead didn't last long as the Lions scored five runs in the home half of the first and three more in the second to take an 8-1 lead.
Centre cut the lead to 8-6 in the third by scoring five runs on only one hit. Mount St. Joseph pitchers walked six and hit another, while senior catcher Cameron Fishman's (Northridge, Calif.) rbi single accounted for the only hit of the inning.
The Lions added a run in the bottom of the third and another in the top of the fourth to extend the lead to 10-6, but the Colonels answered again in the fifth. Junior Jason Osterman (Monroe, Ohio) led off the inning with a triple to right center field. Freshman Trey Litsey(Louisville, Ky.) followed with a double to right to make it 10-7. Two more walks loaded the bases again, and another walk to sophomore Sean Cole (Teaneck, N.J.), pulled Centre within 10-8. Following a strikeout for the first out of the inning, Fishman drove in his second run of the night with an rbi single to center for a 10-9 game.
One inning later, Mount St. Joseph pushed the lead back to three with a pair of runs in the bottom of the sixth to make it 12-9.
Centre was held scoreless in the seventh and it appeared as though the Lions would put up another zero in the top of the eighth, but the Colonels scored five runs with two outs to take their first lead of the game.
Sophomore Kyle Cook (Maineville, Ohio) hit a one-out single to left and moved to second when Osterman was walked. After a ground out to first base moved the runners to second and third, junior Aaron Ammann (Winnetka, Calif.) doubled to left center scoring both Cook and Osterman. Cole singled to score Ammann and moved to second on the throw home, and then scored himself when Nelson followed with a single to put Centre in front 14-12.
The Colonels added a pair of insurance runs in the ninth on a run-scoring double by Litsey and an rbi single by Ammann to make it 16-12, and Centre held on, allowing just a single run in the bottom of the ninth for the 16-13 come-from-behind victory.
The two teams combined for 29 runs on 36 hits with four errors, 18 walks and three hit batters. Sophomore pitcher Sam Denny (Huntsville, Ala.) earned his first collegiate win tossing 3.1 innings. He allowed two runs on four hits with one walk and three strikeouts.
Sophomore Kyle Neu (Cincinnati, Ohio) picked up his second career save. Neu threw the final two innings and allowed one run on three hits.
Litsey and Fishman finished with three hits each and Ammann and Freudiger collected two hits apiece to lead the Centre offense. Freuidger drove in three runs, scored three and was on base six times with two hits and four walks. Sophomore Charlie Holland (Knoxville, Tenn.), Cole, Cook, Osterman, Litsey and Amman all scored two runs each in the victory.
The Colonels will look to continue their winning ways Saturday, March 10 in a doubleheader against Hanover College. First pitch of the twinbill is set to start at 1 p.m. at L.S. Ayres Field in Hanover, Ind.