The Oglethorpe baseball team came back from four runs down in the fifth inning to defeat LaGrange 7-6 in 10 innings Tuesday night at Anderson Field. The Stormy Petrels scored two in the fifth, then two in the seventh to tie the score. From there, the two teams traded zeroes until the 10th, when the Petrels pushed across an unearned run with an RBI single by junior second baseman Keith Dearden. The result improves the Petrels to 18-10 on the season.
The Petrels fell behind 4-0 in the third, but a two-run homer from junior shortstop SpencerTransue cut the lead in half in the bottom of the inning. The visiting Panthers pushed a couple more across in the fifth, but another Oglethorpe homer, this one by senior designated hitter PatrickKulick, again cut the lead in half. The Petrels were able to tie the game with two runs in the seventh, with Dearden providing the game-tying RBI on a run-scoring groundout. He then provided the game-winning RBI in the 10th.
Sophomore right-hander Justin Thigpen picked up yet another win in relief for Oglethorpe, improving to 6-1 on the season and tying him for second in the SAA in wins. He pitched the final three innings of the game, allowing no runs and just one hit while striking out three Panthers and walking no one. The Petrels got a similarly solid pitching performance from sophomore right-hander Sam Traxler in relief. He went 2-1/3 innings and also allowed no runs and just one hit. Junior right-hander Sam Franklin got the start for the Petrels and went 4-2/3 innings, allowing five earned runs on 10 hits.
Dearden turned out to be the hero on the night for the Petrels, going 2-for-4 with a walk and two RBIs, which turned out to be the game-tying and game-winning ones. Senior left fielder AndreTurnquest had another outstanding evening, going 4-for-4 with a walk, three runs scored, and another stolen base, his 28th of the season. Transue went 2-for-4 with a home run, three RBIs and two runs scored.
The Petrels fell behind 4-0 in the third, but immediately came back with a two-spot in the bottom half of the inning. Turnquest singled up the middle with one out and Transue followed with a two-run homer over the left-field wall, cutting the lead in half. LaGrange pushed the lead back out in the fifth, scoring twice more, but the Petrels answered back again in the bottom half of that inning.Turnquest reached on an infield single and stole second, setting the table for Kulick, who hit a screaming line drive over the right-field fence to cut the LaGrange lead to 6-4.
The two teams remained scoreless after that until the bottom of the seventh. Turnquest hit his second consecutive infield single to lead off the inning, then advanced to third on a pickoff-attempt error by LaGrange. Transue followed with a single up the middle, scoring Turnquest and cutting the LaGrange lead to one. Kulick was then hit by a pitch, putting runners at first and second with nobody out. After the first out of the inning, Transue and Kulick both moved up 90 feet on a LaGrange passed ball. This was important, as Dearden followed with an RBI groundout that tied the game, scoring Transue as an unearned run.
Neither team scored again until the 10th, when junior third baseman Austin Ferlita singled to lead off the inning and advanced to second on another passed ball. Junior Alex Atteberry then pinch ran for Ferlita and was able to score on Dearden's single up the middle to win the game.
The win was the 169th of Oglethorpe head coach Dan Giordano's career, now moving him two ahead of Bill Popp for the most in the program's history since it was restarted as an NCAA DivisionIII program in 1992. The all-time winningest coach in Oglethorpe baseball history is the legendary Frank Anderson, whom Anderson Field is named for. He garnered 296 victories over the course of his career.
Giordano was pleased with the effort on Tuesday: "This was a fun night at Anderson Field. We haven't had a walkoff hit in a couple of years, so it was nice to feel that excitement again. Battling back from two 4-run deficits shows me a lot about the grit of this team. We are never out of a game with our lineup. Our bullpen was stellar, not allowing a run over five innings. It gave us a chance to climb back into it. We'll enjoy this win tonight and get right back in the saddle tomorrow against Emory."
The Petrels have now won nine of their last 10 games, and will be taking on the crosstown Eagles for the second time this season Wednesday night at 7 p.m. from Anderson Field. The Eagles are still high on the list of teams also receiving votes in the D3baseball.com poll, but the Petrels will try to keep up their undefeated record against non-conference regional opponents Wednesday night.