The Oglethorpe baseball team exploded for six runs against Piedmont over the first two innings of the contest Wednesday night at Loudermilk Field in Demorest, Ga., and made it stick for a 6-2 win over a Lions team that's receiving votes in the current D3baseball.com poll.
The victory improves the Stormy Petrels to 15-9 on the season and extends their season-long winning streak to six games. It also means that they have picked up a victory in every non-conference road game against a regional opponent this season.
The Petrels got a very solid starting effort from junior right-hander Sam Franklin, who picked up his first victory of the season for his efforts. He threw six innings and allowed just two runs on five hits, with four strikeouts and three walks. He was augmented by three scoreless relief innings thrown by junior right-handers Joseph Marco and Spencer Transue, who combined to allow a single hit.
At the plate, the big blows were struck by junior second baseman Keith Dearden and sophomore third baseman Austin Ferlita, both of whom delivered multi-RBI doubles early in the game.Dearden went 1-for-4 with a first-inning, bases-clearing double while Ferlita had a 1-for-2 night with a two-out, two-run double, an RBI walk and a run scored. Senior center fielder Vernon Trice went 2-for-4 with a stolen base and a run scored.
The Petrels jumped all over the home-standing Lions in the first inning, as Turnquest reached second on a pair of errors, and junior shortstop Spencer Transue and senior designated hitter Patrick Kulick both walked to load the bases with nobody out. A bases-loaded walk from Ferlitabrought in the first run of the game for Oglethorpe and, after a Piedmont pitching change, Deardendelivered with his bases-clearing double and gave the visitors a 4-0 lead.
The Petrels continued the early-game onslaught in the second inning. Trice singled to lead things off and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Turnquest then singled and stole his 26th base of the season, putting runners at second and third with nobody out. Piedmont retired the next two batters without allowing a run to score, making it seem as though they might escape the inning unscathed. However, Ferlita came through with a big two-run double to straightaway center field, extending the Oglethorpe lead to 6-0.
Piedmont would get a run back in each of the next two innings, but the Petrels' pitching clamped down after that. They allowed only one Lion to reach third base for the rest of the game.
"This was another really good win on the road for us," said Head Coach Dan Giordano, "and it came against a really good Piedmont team. We swung the bats early and had some big hits with guys on-base. Sam Franklin was in control and did a nice job mixing speeds and keeping their explosive offense off the board. It was a very good effort from him and it gave us a lift. We have another big weekend ahead of us at Sewanee. We'll be ready to play our game and play hard for 27 outs."
The Petrels will embark for Sewanee, Tenn., tomorrow and they'll play a three-game series there starting Friday. Friday's single game will likely be moved to 1 p.m. Eastern, while Saturday will feature a doubleheader which also gets underway at 1 p.m. Eastern.