The Oglethorpe baseball team fell behind early against the crosstown-rival Emory Eagles Wednesday night at Anderson Field and were unable to catch up. They fell 9-4 on the evening, falling to 18-11 on the season.
The Stormy Petrels found themselves behind 6-0 after the top of the fourth, putting them in a situation from which they could not recover. They pulled to within four runs twice, trailing 7-3 going into the eighth, but Emory picked up a couple of insurance runs in that inning to put the game away. The Eagles outhit the Petrels 13-10 while stealing 11 bases on Oglethorpe pitching. The teams combined for nine errors, Emory committing five to Oglethorpe's four.
Junior right-hander Joseph Marco took the loss, falling to 0-3 on the season. He allowed three earned runs and seven hits over 2-1/3 innings, walking one and striking out one. The Petrels got scoreless relief work from sophomore left-hander Dan McBryan, who went two innings allowing one hit and striking out four; sophomore right-hander Justin Thigpen, who didn't allow a hit over two-thirds of an inning and struck out one, and junior right-hander Kolin Zimmer, who didn't allow a hit and struck out a batter over an inning of work. Offensively, freshman catcher Adrian Celata went 1-for-3 with a two-run homer, while junior second baseman Keith Dearden went 2-for-5 with anRBI. Sophomore third baseman Austin Ferlita also went 2-for-5 with a run scored.
Emory jumped on the Petrels for six runs in innings 2-4, but Oglethorpe did answer back in the bottom of the fourth. Senior designated hitter Patrick Kulick reached on catcher's interference, then advanced to second when Ferlita singled through the left side of the infield. The inning looked like it might be cut short after a double play left just Ferlita at second base with two out, but Celatafollowed with a two-run homer to the opposite field, cutting the Emory lead to 6-2.
The Eagles got a run back in the top of the fifth, but Oglethorpe responded again by cutting the Emory lead back to four in the seventh. Senior left fielder Andre Turnquest doubled to lead off the inning and Transue grounded out to advance Turnquest to third. After the second out of the inning, Ferlita reach on an error that allowed Turnquest to score, making it 7-3.
However, the Eagles picked up two more runs in the eighth, pushing their lead back out to a six-run edge. The Petrels got a run back in the ninth, as Transue reached on an error and advanced to second on another error. Kulick walked and the two runners moved up on an Emory passed ball.Dearden then singled to center field, scoring Transue, but that was all the Petrels would get.
"I thought we had a really good atmosphere at the park tonight. This felt like a playoff-type game," said Head Coach Dan Giordano. "We will be a better team because of tonight. Emory already had experience in games like this and it showed. We had some chances to score runs but couldn't get the big hit. We'll learn from it and move forward."
The Petrels will be taking on Rust Thursday at Anderson Field in a doubleheader. First pitch is schedule for 4 p.m. Then, the team will welcome Centre to Anderson Field for a three-game SAA series over the weekend. With two more victories, the Petrels would reach the 20-win plateau for the first time since 1997.