The Oglethorpe baseball team opened its home season Tuesday evening at Anderson Field, but things did not go as planned for the Stormy Petrels in a 15-1 loss to the visiting Piedmont Lions. The defeat dropped Oglethorpe to 3-6 on the season.
The Petrels stayed close with Piedmont in the early going, as freshman right-hander Colin Stewart hung in well through the first four innings. He allowed a couple runs on four hits through those innings, getting out of jams in three of the four frames to keep the score 2-0, as the visitors tallied single runs in the first and third.
The Lions broke it open in the fifth, however, scoring six runs on five hits including a grand slam. Suddenly, the Petrels were behind 8-0. They came back with a run in the bottom half of the inning, as freshman center fielder Gabe Bryant singled and advanced to second on an error, then scored on a single from senior shortstop Alex Featherstone. That was all they would get, though, and the visitors cruised to the 14-run win.
Bryant was the lone Petrel with multiple hits. He went 2-for-2 with a walk and a run scored. Stewart suffered the loss and finished with 5 runs on six hits over four-plus innings, walking three and striking out three.
The Petrels will be back in action Saturday, as they travel to Danville, Kentucky, for a doubleheader with the Centre Colonels starting at noon. It will serve as the first of a three-game set between the two teams.