The Oglethorpe baseball team split a doubleheader with the Sewanee Tigers Saturday at Anderson Field, beating them 11-4 in Game 1 before falling 14-8 in Game 2. The results moved the Stormy Petrels to 17-9 on the season overall and 7-5 in SAA play.
The Petrels were led on the day by senior second baseman Matt Motz, who went 6-for-7 over the course of the two games with nine RBIs, hitting a home run, two doubles and a sacrifice fly while also drawing a walk and scoring two runs. The bulk of that effort came in Game 1, where he went 4-for-4 with two doubles, a home run, a sacrifice fly, six RBIs, a stolen base and two runs scored.
After the Tigers scored two runs off junior left-hander Kyle Babb in the top of the first, the Petrels responded with four runs in the bottom half of the inning, though, and Motz supplied the big blow with a 3-run homer to give Oglethorpe a 4-2 lead. Sophomore first baseman Andrew Mink also provided a sacrifice fly to give the Petrels their first run of the inning.
With a 4-2 lead, the Petrels expanded their advantage by tallying three more in the third. Senior left fielder Britton Araujo drove in a pair of runs with a single through the left side, while freshman shortstop Alex Featherstone followed by driving in another one with a fielder's choice, making it 7-2. Motz drove in two more with a double down the left field line to make it 9-2 in the sixth, then senior center fielder Jarvis Miller drove in another run with a single in the seventh, making it 10-2.
Sewanee answered back with a couple runs in the eighth, but Motz got one of those back with a sacrifice fly in the bottom half of the inning.
Babb earned his fifth win of the season with six innings of 5-hit ball, allowing just two runs and striking out two. Freshman right-hander Kyle Rutledge picked up his first career save by pitching the final three innings of the game. He allowed two runs on two hits, walking one and striking out two.
In addition to Motz, Miller had an outstanding game, as well, going 2-for-3 with a double, two walks, a stolen base, an RBI and two runs scored.
In Game 2, the Tigers jumped all over the Petrels in the early-going and did not let up. They scored at least one run in every inning except the seventh, and built a 9-1 lead midway through the third. The Petrels answered with four runs in the bottom half of the inning, as Motz drove in a pair with a 2-run single and the team also got RBI hits from Mink and freshman catcher Alec Babb.
Oglethorpe got as close as two runs when Mink launched a 3-run homer down the left-field line in the fourth, making the score 10-8. However, they would not score again, and the Tigers were able to pull away for the 14-8 victory.
Sophomore left-hander Jackson Harrell suffered the loss to fall to 0-2 on the season, allowing three runs on two hits over a third of an inning.
"We were able to win the series, and that is always our goal," said Oglethorpe head coach Dan Giordano. "Motz was on fire in Game 1, and Babb continued to do his thing even though he didn't have his best stuff. He battled and gave us six quality innings. We have a lot of baseball left, and we're looking to continue to get better each day."
The Petrels will welcome LaGrange to Anderson Field on Tuesday at 7 p.m. After that, they'll host Millsaps in another 3-game SAA series next weekend.