The Oglethorpe baseball team was one run away from tying Piedmont for the majority of the game Wednesday night at Anderson Field. In the end, though, they saw the visiting Lions pull away for a 9-3 victory.

The Petrels fell behind 4-0 in the first inning, but came back over the course of the next couple of frames. Second baseman Keith Dearden homered in the second inning to cut the Piedmont lead to 4-1. Then, the Petrels loaded the bases in the third with nobody out, and designated hitter Patrick Kulick drove a run in with an RBI groundout. Third baseman Austin Ferlita followed with a sacrifice fly and the Petrels drew closer, now down just 4-3.

However, that was the last run the Petrels would score. Petrel pitchers Justin Dempsey, Sam Franklin, Sam Traxler and Joe Marco shut down the Piedmont lineup through the eighth inning, but Oglethorpe couldn't get anything going against the Lions starter, either.

In the ninth, the Petrels allowed five runs on three hits, as the Lions drove in three runs directly with either a walk or a hit batsman. 

Kyle Mitchell suffered the loss for the Petrels, allowing three earned runs in less than an inning of work. At the plate, Dearden went 2-for-4 with a home run and a double. Center fielder Vernon Trice also had another solid game, going 3-for-4 on the evening with a stolen base. 

The Petrels will welcome No. 15 Birmingham-Southern to Anderson Field this weekend for a three-game SAA series.