The Oglethorpe baseball team got their 3-game series with Millsaps off to an outstanding start Friday evening at Anderson Field, pulling away for a 14-4 win in which the 10-run rule had to be invoked after seven innings. The Stormy Petrels rapped 13 hits and took advantage of four Millsaps errors to score five unearned runs en route to the 10-run victory which improved the team to 18-10 on the season overall and 8-5 in SAA play. The win also moved the Petrels into a tie for third place with Millsaps in the SAA standings.
The Petrels got an outstanding start from sophomore right-hander Noah Cole, who earned a complete-game victory to improve to 3-1 on the season. He allowed three earned runs on nine hits and five walks over seven innings of work, striking out two.
Oglethorpe fell behind after allowing an unearned run in the first, but they came back with a couple unearned runs of their own in the second. Both scored on a 2-out Millsaps error, making the score 2-1. The Majors responded with three runs in the third to take a 4-2 lead, but Oglethorpe took the lead back for good in the bottom half of the inning when they answered with five of their own. Senior designated hitter Adrian Celata walked and advanced to second on a wild pitch, then junior first baseman Andrew Mink moved him to third with a single. Senior second baseman Matt Motz and senior third baseman Connor Crooke followed with consecutive run-scoring hits to tie the game at 4-4, then two more scored on another Millsaps defensive miscue. The Petrels put one more across in the inning on a delayed double steal, as senior left fielder Britton Araujo stole home on the play to give his team a 7-4 edge.
The Petrels added two more on a pair of sacrifice flies from freshman catcher Alec Babb and Crooke in the fourth, taking a 9-4 lead. then they broke the game open in the fifth when Celata launched a 3-run homer over the left field fence for his league-leading seventh long ball of the year. That gave the home side a 12-4 lead.
They put the finishing touches on the game in the seventh inning. Celata had his plate appearance extended by a dropped foul ball, then walked to lead off the inning. Mink was hit by a pitch and Motz advanced Celata to third with a fly out. Celata then scored on a wild pitch, and sophomore Michael Talaga, who pinch ran for Mink, advanced to second on the play. Crooke singled Talaga to third, and with two outs, Araujo singled up the middle to score Talaga and end the game on the 10-run rule.
Motz finished the game 3-for-5 with two stolen bases, an RBI and two runs scored. Crooke went 2-for-3 with a sacrifice fly, a walk, two stolen bases, two RBIs and two runs scored.
"That was a solid win to start the series," said Oglethorpe head coach Dan Giordano. "Noah settled in after a tough start and gave us a solid effort, and we had the entire lineup contribute. We've got to come tomorrow with the same energy we brought tonight!"
The Petrels and Majors will complete the 3-game set with a doubleheader Saturday afternoon, beginning at 1 p.m. at Anderson Field. After that, the Petrels will host LaGrange at 7 p.m. Tuesday night on Anderson Field before heading to Conway, Arkansas, for a 3-game SAA series against Hendrix on Saturday and Sunday of next weekend.