The Oglethorpe baseball team picked up a victory against the crosstown rival Emory Eagles, currently ranked fifth in the nation, Wednesday afternoon in the Druid Hills neighborhood of Atlanta, scoring three runs over the first three innings and hanging on for a 5-1 victory. The win served as the Stormy Petrels' second road victory over a top-five Emory team in as many years, after they beat the No. 3 Eagles 7-6 in Druid Hills last season. It also improved them to 19-17 on the season.
Oglethorpe pitchers worked their way out of jam after jam over the course of the game. Despite allowing six hits and 10 walks, the Petrels pitched their way out of bases-loaded jams twice and stranded at least two Emory baserunners in seven of the nine innings. They stranded 16 Eagles runners in all over the course of the game.
Senior Kolin Zimmer got the win and improved to 2-2 on the season. He went 1 2/3 shutout innings and allowed two hits and a walk. Fellow senior Sam Franklin picked up the first save of his career, pitching three shutout innings and allowing just two hits and two walks, striking out three. Junior Ryan Brennan garnered his first start of the season and allowed just a single run on two hits and seven walks through 4 1/3 innings.
The Petrels jumped out to a 2-0 lead over the first couple of innings. In the first, sophomore center fielder Britton Araujo singled to lead off the game, then advanced to second on an error. Sophomore left fielder Jarvis Miller followed with a groundout, advancing Araujo to third, and sophomore designated hitter Adrian Celata drove Araujo home with a sacrifice fly.
The Petrels doubled their lead in the second inning on a home run by freshman first baseman Andrew Mink. The Eagles answered with a single run in the bottom of the second, but Oglethorpe took their 2-run lead back in the third with three walks and an infield single. Senior shortstop Spencer Transue and Celata walked, junior right fielder Brandon Fish reached on an infield single, and Mink drove in a run with a bases-loaded walk.
Oglethorpe held that 2-run lead up until the eighth inning, when they picked up two big insurance runs. Fish doubled down the left-field line and was advanced to third on a Mink groundout. Junior third baseman Austin Ferlita followed with a huge 2-run home run to left field, doubling the Petrels' lead to 5-1 headed to the ninth inning.
In the ninth, the Eagles had two men reach base, but Franklin induced a ground ball to Ferlita to end the game, securing the win for the Petrels.
Mink finished 1 for 3 with a home run, a walk, two RBIs, and a run scored, while Fish went 2 for 4 with a double and a run scored. Sophomore catcher Bobby Rezac also went 2 for 4.
"This was just a complete team win," said Oglethorpe head coach Dan Giordano. "We had some really clutch hits and made pitches when we had to. Hopefully, we can build off this win and gain some momentum moving into the last conference series and into the tournament."
The Petrels will travel to Memphis, Tennessee, Saturday to begin their 3-game series with Rhodes. The two teams will play a doubleheader Saturday beginning at 1 p.m. Eastern time and will play a single game Sunday at 2 p.m. The two teams are currently tied for fifth place in the SAA at 9-9 and sit a game behind fourth-place Millsaps.