The Oglethorpe baseball team won the first game of a doubleheader 7-2 over the visiting Centre Colonels Saturday at Anderson Field, but fell 5-3 in the seven-inning second game. The Stormy Petrels scored 4 runs in the fourth inning of Game 1 to turn around an early 2-0 deficit, then added insurance runs in the fifth and sixth innings. They fell behind 5-0 in Game 2 and managed only one hit through the first six innings, but then rallied for 3 runs in the seventh. The comeback attempt ended with the potential tying runs in scoring position.
The Petrels squandered a bases-loaded, nobody-out opportunity in the first inning of Game 1 and fell behind 2-0 in the third. They answered back with 4 unearned runs in the fourth inning, though, turning the game in their favor. Sophomore first baseman George Krivsky drove in a run on a play in which he reached on an error and 2 runs scored. Three batters later, junior third baseman Billy Finch drove in a couple more with a double down the left-field line, giving his team a 4-2 lead. A bunt single with runners at the corners by sophomore second baseman Jonathan Cruz followed in the fifth, and Krivsky added another RBI on a fielder's choice in the inning. Freshman shortstop Gabe Bryant doubled home in a run in the sixth to give the Petrels the 5-run advantage.
Meanwhile, sophomore right-hander Garrett Parkins pitched well, allowing just the 2 runs on four hits and four walks over 5 2/3 innings, striking out five. He gave way to freshman righty Colby James with two out in the sixth, and James got out of a bases-loaded jam to preserve a 6-2 Oglethorpe lead at the time. James completed the final 3 1/3 innings without allowing a hit or a run -- a single walk serving as his only blemish -- and struck out three to earn his first career save.
The Petrels fell behind 2-0 in the first inning of Game 2 and could not get anything going against Centre starter Jake Holloway. They managed just one hit and four total baserunners on Holloway over the first six innings while the Colonels added onto their lead with 3 more runs in the fifth. The Petrels loaded the bases with one out in the seventh and final inning, though, and junior designated hitter Jevon Lewis picked up an RBI on a bases-loaded walk to make it 5-1 and bring the potential tying run to the plate. Finch followed a batter later with an RBI on a hit-by-pitch after Holloway was lifted for a reliever. A Bryant run-scoring groundout a batter later made the score 5-3 and put the potential tying runs in scoring position while bringing the potential winning run to the plate. The Colonels escaped the jam, though.
Freshman lefty Sam Cohen got the start for Oglethorpe and suffered the loss, though he didn't pitch badly. He allowed 2 earned runs on five hits and two walks over four-plus innings, striking out four.
The two teams will be back in action Sunday, when they play another doubleheader starting at 11 a.m. The first will be a seven-inning game, followed by a nine-inning contest.