The Oglethorpe baseball team led the Centre Colonels 3-1 Friday night headed to the sixth inning, but they were unable to hold it as Centre came back with four runs over the final four innings to take the game 5-3 in the first of a 3-game set in Danville, Kentucky. The loss dropped the Stormy Petrels to 11-13 on the season overall and 3-7 in SAA play.
Down 3-1 headed to the bottom of the sixth, the homestanding Colonels tallied a single run on an RBI groundout in that inning, cutting the Oglethorpe edge to one. Centre's big inning came in the seventh, however. They moved runners to second and third with one out on a sacrifice bunt, then a sacrifice fly off Oglethorpe right-handed reliever Joe Marco tied the game. They took the lead on a Petrel error with two outs, scoring an unearned run and pushing ahead 4-3.
They added an insurance run in the eighth to make it 5-3, then closed the game out in the ninth. Sophomore catcher Adrian Celata was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning, but a double play erased him and brought the Petrels down to their final out. Junior third baseman Austin Ferlita singled to keep the inning going, but Centre got out of it and secured the victory.
The Petrels jumped out to an early lead in the contest, scoring a pair in the game's first inning. Sophomore center fielder Britton Araujo singled to lead off the game and advanced to second on a passed ball. Sophomore left fielder Jarvis Miller walked and Celata struck with an RBI double. Ferlita grounded out two batters later, driving Miller home and building a 2-run lead for Oglethorpe.
Centre got a run back on another Petrel error in the second, but Oglethorpe built their lead back to two in the fifth. Celata reached on an error, freshman right fielder Scott Witt walked with two outs, and senior second baseman Keith Dearden followed with an RBI single up the middle to score Ferlita.
Marco suffered the loss, dropping to 1-5 on the season. He allowed a pair of earned runs on three hits, three walks and a hit batsman over two innings. Petrel right-hander Matt Davis had a solid start for the Petrels, allowing just a single earned run on four hits and a walk over six innings, striking out three Colonels.
Celata led the Petrels at the plate, going 3 for 4 with a double and an RBI, while Araujo finished 3 for 5 with a run scored.
"This was another tough loss," said Oglethorpe head coach Dan Giordano. "We're just continuing to have difficulty holding onto leads right now. I continue to think this team is very close to putting it all together and reeling off several wins in a row. We've got a doubleheader here tomorrow, so we'll look to start that process now going into the final month of the season."
The Petrels complete their 3-game set in Danville Saturday with a doubleheader beginning at noon. After that, the squad returns home for seven of their next eight, starting with a Tuesday game against Huntingdon at 6 p.m. from Anderson Field.