The Oglethorpe baseball team fell behind early in its final home game of the regular season against No. 8 Emory Tuesday night at Anderson Field, and despite a couple of opportunities, were never able to get back into the game, falling 10-1. The defeat means that the Stormy Petrels finish the regular season 19-21 headed into the SAA Tournament this weekend.
The visiting Eagles scored three runs in the second to take the lead, then continued with a couple runs in the third. The Petrels had a shot to get right back into the game in the bottom half of the third, however. Senior second baseman Keith Dearden reached on an error to lead off, then senior shortstop Spencer Transue followed with a single, putting runners at first and second with nobody out. Dearden advanced to third on a wild pitch and sophomore center fielder Britton Araujo walked, loading the bases. After an Oglethorpe strikeout, sophomore first baseman Adrian Celata hit a long fly ball all the way to the fence in left. It looked like it might make it out for a grand slam, but the ball fell just short and was caught on the warning track for a sacrifice fly, scoring a run to make it 5-1. Junior right fielder Brandon Fish hit a line drive to center one batter later, but the Eagles were able to secure the out and get out of the inning.
The Petrels began the first inning with a a leadoff walk from sophomore center fielder Britton Araujo, but a baserunning error cost the Petrels a chance to pick up the early lead.
After the third, Emory starter Jackson Weeg settled down and the Eagles were able to pull away. They picked up additional single runs in the seventh and ninth and a pair of runs in the eighth.
Freshman right-hander Tristen Powell suffered the loss for the Petrels, his first of the season. He went two innings and allowed five runs on three hits and three walks. Junior right-hander Sam Traxler pitched well for the Petrels in relief, going two shutout innings and allowing just one hit while walking two and striking out one.
The Petrels recorded three hits over the course of the game on Weeg, and he got the win for the Eagles, allowing an unearned run over seven innings of work and striking out 10.
"Things didn't go our way today," said Oglethorpe head coach Dan Giordano, "but we were facing an excellent pitcher. We had a couple chances early in the game, and Celata was just a foot or two away from a grand slam that would've thrown us right back into the game. It wasn't to be, though. We'll now get ready for the conference tournament. It's a brand new season starting Friday!"
The Petrels will travel to Conway, Arkansas, as the sixth seed in the SAA Tournament, where they'll join No. 2 seed Hendrix, No. 3 seed Rhodes, and No. 7 seed Centre. Oglethorpe will begin their weekend in the double-elimination pod against Rhodes at 2 p.m. Eastern on Friday.