Down 5-4 with two outs in the top of the ninth, the Centre College baseball team scored two runs and hung on for a 6-5 win over No. 29 Emory University Wednesday, March 26 in Atlanta, Ga.
The Colonels fell behind 2-0 in the first inning, but junior Trey Litsey (Louisville, Ky.) singled home senior Kyle Cook (Maineville, Ohio) and sophomore Sam Spees (Dayton, Ohio) in the third to tie the game at 2-2.
Litsey came up big again in the fifth with a two-out single to center field to score sophomoreJake Johnson (Louisville, Ky.) and give Centre a 3-2 lead.
Emory tied the game, and looked to go ahead in the sixth on a sacrifice fly, but the runner at third was called out for leaving early before the catch was made.
The Eagles did go ahead 4-3 in the seventh, but the Colonels tied the game in the eighth when sophomore Zach Montgomery (Louisville, Ky.) singled home Litsey with his first hit of the season.
With one out in the eighth, Emory executed a squeeze play to take a 5-4 lead into the ninth and recorded outs on the first two batters in the final inning. Johnson was hit by a pitch, and Spees followed with a single through the right side to put runners on first and second. Cook then delivered a line drive to left to score Johnson for a 5-5 tie.
Spees made it to third and Cook to second on the throw home to bring up Litsey. An intentional walk loaded the bases to bring up freshman Andrew Olson (Louisville, Ky.). With the count 1-2, Olson hit a ground ball to the right side as a balk was called and beat the first baseman to the bag as Spees scored the go ahead run.
Freshman Brett Vitkun (Williamsport, Md.) allowed only a single in the ninth, while inducing a ground out to end the game to earn his first collegiate victory.
Freshman pitcher Jordan Short (Neon, Ky.) picked up a no decision in his second collegiate start. He allowed three runs on five hits in six innings of work. Vitkun allowed only an unearned run in tossing the final two innings to improve to 1-1.
Four different players had multi-hit games for Centre. Cook and Litsey had three hits apiece, and Olson and Spees added two hits each.
The Colonels, now 6-15 overall, will next host Oglethorpe University Saturday, March 28. The SAA twinbill is set to begin at1 p.m. at Gary Wright Field in Danville, Ky.