A 10th-inning error proved to be the undoing of the Oglethorpe baseball team Tuesday night in Demorest, Georgia. The result was a 9-8, 10-inning defeat at the hands of the homestanding Piedmont Lions. With runners at first and second and two men out in the 10th, a throwing error on a Piedmont stolen base attempt allowed the winning run to score, giving the home side the 1-run, extra-inning victory. The loss dropped the Stormy Petrels to 18-17 on the season.
The loss came despite a 2-run, ninth-inning comeback from the Petrels, allowing them to send the game to extra innings, and some very solid pitching performances in relief over the back half of the game.
Down 8-6 headed to the ninth, the Petrels began the inning when senior second baseman Keith Dearden reached on an error. Freshman pinch runner Dylan Leonard advanced to second on a wild pitch. After an Oglethorpe strikeout, sophomore center fielder Britton Araujo hit into a fielder's choice, but a Lions error meant that the Petrels had runners at the corners with still only one out. Sophomore left fielder Jarvis Miller brought Oglethorpe a run closer with a sacrifice fly, making the score 8-7, but it took the visitors down to their final out. A single from sophomore catcher Adrian Celata moved Araujo into scoring position, though, and junior designated hitter Brandon Fish followed with a run-scoring single, tying the game at 8-apiece.
The Petrels got three solid performances in relief, despite the loss. Senior right-hander Justin Thigpen went three innings and allowed just an unearned run on two hits, striking out seven Piedmont batters. Junior right-hander Sam Traxler suffered the loss to fall to 0-2 on the season, but went 1 2/3 innings, allowing only the unearned, winning run on three hits. Senior right-hander Kolin Zimmer allowed one earned run on two hits and two walks in 1 1/3 innings.
Oglethorpe got off to a big lead early in the game, jumping out to a 6-1 advantage midway through the fourth. They scored a pair of runs in the first on a Fish RBI double and a sacrifice fly from freshman first baseman Andrew Mink. Then, after Piedmont answered with a run in the bottom half of the inning, the Petrels got a solo homer from Celata, an RBI single from sophomore right fielder Corey Hamm, and a bases-loaded walk from senior shortstop Spencer Transue in the third to push their lead out to 5-1. They added a run in the fourth on an RBI single from junior third baseman Austin Ferlita.
However, Piedmont answered back with five runs in the bottom of the fourth. They tied the game on back-to-back home runs in that inning, then took a 7-6 lead in the fifth. Piedmont made the single-run edge stand up for the next three innings, then added an insurance run in the eighth to enter the ninth with an 8-6 lead.
Celata finished the game 3 for 6 with his league-leading 10th home run of the season, and his fifth in the last four games, and two runs scored. Fish went 3 for 6 with a double, two RBIs, and a run scored, while Ferlita went 2 for 3 with three walks, an RBI, and a run scored, and Mink finished 3 for 4 with a sacrifice fly and a run scored.
The Petrels will quickly get back to action Wednesday afternoon when they travel across town to take on No. 5 Emory in Atlanta's Druid Hills neighborhood. They'll then travel to Memphis, Tennessee, Saturday and Sunday for their final SAA series of the season against Rhodes.