The Oglethorpe baseball team fell in its final home game of the year Monday night, losing to in-state opponent LaGrange, 6-3, on Anderson Field. The Petrels committed five errors in the game which led to five unearned runs for the visiting Panthers.

The Stormy Petrels allowed four unearned runs over the first three innings of the ballgame, putting themselves behind the eight-ball right away. Oglethorpe starter Kyle Mitchell pitched in very bad luck, suffering the loss despite not allowing an earned run on the night. He allowed four unearned runs on six hits over five innings to drop to 3-5 on the year.

However, the Petrels slowly started working their way back into the game. They scored two in the fourth to cut the lead in half. Right fielder Patrick Kulick walked and stole second, then designated hitter Austin Ferlita followed with an RBI single up the middle. Ferlita was thrown out at second trying to advance, but the inning continued when second baseman Keith Dearden singled and advanced to second on a wild pitch. First baseman Casey Tuttle walked and catcher Hunter Riley followed with an RBI single, scoring Dearden. When the inning was over, the Petrels had cut the LaGrange lead to 4-2.

In the fifth, left fielder Will Hanna reached second on a LaGrange error, then advanced to third and scored on separate wild pitches, cutting the Panthers' lead to 4-3. However, the Petrels were unable to score another run over the course of the game.

LaGrange got two big insurance runs in the eighth to make it a 6-3 game. The Petrels did mount a rally in the ninth, however. Tuttle, Riley and pinch-hitter Joey McAlpin delivered consecutive singles to put the potential tying runs on base, but LaGrange got a double-play grounder to end the game.

The Petrels got an excellent performance from Tuttle, starting in his final home game. He went a perfect 3-for-3 with two doubles and a walk. Riley was also playing the final home game of his career and went 2-for-4 with an RBI.

The loss drops the Petrels to 17-22 on the season. They'll have one final regular season game Tuesday when they'll travel across town to take on Division I Georgia State at the GSU Baseball Complex in the Panthersville area of Atlanta. Then, they'll travel to Mount Berry, Ga., for the SAA Tournament starting on Friday, when they'll take on hosts Berry at 6 p.m. in the first round of the double elimination tournament.