The Oglethorpe baseball team played a pair of thrilling back-and-forth affairs with Hendrix in Conway, Ark., Saturday. In the end, they earned a doubleheader split, winning Game 1, 9-8, in 11 innings and losing Game 2, 10-8.
In Game 1, the Stormy Petrels jumped out to a big lead, only to see the home-standing Warriors make a comeback. The Petrels jumped out to a 2-0 advantage on a Patrick Kulick double in the first. Hendrix got a run back in the second, but the Petrels pulled out to a 5-1 advantage with three runs in the fourth. Shortstop Spencer Transue started the scoring with an RBI groundout and center fielder Vernon Trice followed with an RBI single of his own. A Frank Sarno sacrifice fly completed the scoring in the inning for the Petrels.
However, the pendulum was about to swing the other way, as the Warriors scored three straight in the sixth and seventh to cut the Oglethorpe lead to a single run, 5-4.
The Petrels would once again answer back, though. They scored twice in the eighth to build their lead back to a three-run spread. Both runs came on an RBI double by third baseman Austin Ferlita, but Kulick was thrown out at the plate trying to score a third run on the play. Then, Hendrix got both runs back to make it an 8-7 game going into the ninth inning.
Oglethorpe added an additional run in the ninth on an RBI double from Andre Turnquest. However, the Petrels could not hold the 9-7 lead. The Petrels quickly got the first two outs in the ninth, but five straight men reached base after that, and a two-out RBI single tied the game at 8-8.
The Petrels got out of the inning, though, and in the 11th inning, a walk from catcher Hunter Riley was followed by another RBI double from Turnquest, giving the Petrels the lead back. In the bottom half of the inning, Kulick redeemed himself after blowing the save in the ninth, working out of a jam to secure his second victory of the season.
Turnquest had an excellent game, going 4-for-5 at the plate with two doubles, two RBIs, a run scored and a stolen base.
In Game 2, the Petrels again built a lead, but Hendrix's comeback was too much to withstand this time. Hendrix jumped out to a 3-0 first-inning lead. The Petrels got a run in the second, but still trailed 4-1 after the Warriors did the same. However, the Petrels exploded from there, scoring at least a run in each of the next three innings.
They tallied three in the third on a game-tying, three-run homer from Kulick, then came back with two more in the fourth to take a 6-4 lead. A TJ Schmutz RBI single was followed with a Turnquest sacrifice fly to score both of those runs. After Hendrix got a run in the bottom half of the inning, the Stormy Petrels got it right back in the fifth on a Ferlita sacrifice fly, making the score 7-5.
However, the Warriors would score five straight runs over the next two innings to turn the game on its head and take a 10-7 lead going into the seventh and final inning. The Petrels did get a run in the seventh, but it wasn't enough as Hendrix secured the 10-8 win.
Kyle Mitchell came on in relief of Dan McBryan and suffered the loss, falling to 3-4 on the season. He allowed three earned runs in 2-1/3 innings.
Kulick went 2-for-3 in the game with a home run, a walk and three RBIs. Schmutz went 2-for-3, as well, with a double, an RBI and a run scored. Trice went 2-for-4 with two doubles and a run scored.
The Petrels ponded out a total of 24 hits over the two games, including 16 in Game 1.
With the two results, they move to 15-18 on the season, 5-11 in SAA play. They'll complete the three-game series with Hendrix on Sunday in a game that's been moved up to noon Eastern.