The Oglethorpe baseball team found themselves locked in a pitcher's duel of sorts with the visiting Huntingdon Hawks Tuesday night at Anderson Field, but found a way to emerge with a 4-2 victory. The win moved the Stormy Petrels over .500 at 12-11 on the season, and served as their fifth win in their last six contests, as well as their third in a row.
Hawks pitching held Oglethorpe hitless through the first 5 2/3 innings, and Huntingdon scratched across an unearned run in the third to take a 1-0 lead. They were unable to get much more than that against Oglethorpe pitching, however, keeping the Petrels in the game. A potential turning point came in the fifth inning, when the Hawks loaded the bases with only one out. Huntingdon third baseman Taylor Fought hit a screaming line drive toward third, but it was right at Oglethorpe junior third baseman Connor Crooke, who made the catch and stepped on the bag for an inning-ending double play.
The home side came through in the sixth, when a 2-out triple by junior center fielder Jarvis Miller that went just off the tip of Huntingdon right fielder Will Cosby's glove broke up the no-hitter and gave Oglethorpe a scoring opportunity. They took advantage with an RBI single from junior catcher Bobby Rezac off the tip of Hawk shortstop Josh Hines' glove, tying the game at 1-1.
The Petrels took the lead when junior designated hitter Adrian Celata launched a solo home run to left-center leading off the seventh, but the Hawks came back with a tally of their own in the eighth, tying the game back up at 2-2. The Petrels grabbed control of the game in the bottom of the inning, though. Junior left fielder Britton Araujo doubled on a looping fly ball that landed in between Huntingdon right fielder Kevin Barnett and second baseman Corey Lowe, and Miller followed with a double of his own down the right-field line to score Araujo and give Oglethorpe the lead back. Then, a fly out by senior right fielder Brandon Fish advanced Miller to third and a sacrifice fly by Celata scored him, giving Oglethorpe the 4-2 lead.
Sophomore right-hander Tristen Powell got the start for the Petrels and pitched the first 5 innings, allowing just a single unearned run on 2 hits, 3 walks and 2 hit batsmen. He gave way to junior left-hander Stuart Spiers, who was perfect through 2 innings. Freshman left-hander PrestonVegotsky wound up with the victory to improve to 2-1 on the season, pitching the final inning-and-a-third and allowing no hits, runs or walks.
Miller went 2-for-4 with a triple, a double, 2 runs scored and the go-ahead RBI in the eighth. Celata went 1-for-2 with a home run and a sacrifice fly.
The Petrels will be right back in action Wednesday night, as they'll host in-state opponent Piedmont in a non-conference tilt at Anderson Field beginning at 7 p.m. After that, they'll get set to host Centre in a 3-game SAA series over the weekend.