The Oglethorpe baseball team salvaged the final game of a four-game set in Memphis, Tennessee, against the host Rhodes Lynx Monday, scoring three runs in the ninth inning to secure a 7-4 win as part of a doubleheader split with Rhodes at Stauffer Field. The Stormy Petrels moved to 10-17 overall and 6-10 in SAA play.
After losing the opener 7-2, the Petrels came back and earned a 7-4 victory in the second game. Senior Chris Keane served as the hero of the contest, driving in the game-winning runs in the ninth while also collecting the win in relief for his two scoreless innings of work, allowing a couple hits and a hit batsman. He went 4-for-5 at the plate with a double, a stolen base, two RBIs and two runs scored.
After a scoreless opening three innings, the Petrels pounced into the lead in the fourth on a Jonathan Cruz sacrifice fly. Rhodes tied the game 1-1 in the bottom half, but the Petrels took a 3-1 lead in the fifth on an error and an RBI groundout. Rhodes made it 3-2 in the bottom half of the inning, but Oglethorpe moved their advantage back out to a couple runs in the eighth when sophomore first baseman George Krivsky singled home Keane. A Rhodes two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth tied the score at 4-4, though.
That set the stage for the ninth inning. The Petrels loaded the bases with nobody out for Keane, and the Oglethorpe pitcher helped his own cause with a two-run single to left to give the Petrels a 6-4 edge. Junior catcher Alec Babb followed that with a single up the middle, scoring another and making it 7-4. Keane gave up a couple hits in the bottom half of the inning, but he got a big strikeout for the second out, then picked a runner off at second base to end the game.
That victory served as a good recovery for the Petrels, who lost the first three games of the series including Game 1 Monday. They took a 2-0 lead in the third inning of the day's initial contest, getting a pair of RBI singles from Babb and freshman right fielder Gabe Bryant. However, the Lynx responded with a run in the bottom half of the inning, then two in the fifth and four in the sixth of a seven-inning game.
The Petrels will be back in action Friday, when they host No. 13 Berry in a doubleheader at 1 p.m. from Anderson Field. They'll finish the series with another doubleheader Saturday beginning at 11 a.m.