The Oglethorpe baseball team got an outstanding offensive performance on Sunday at a rain-soaked Anderson Field, breaking one individual single-game record and tying another, but they had to hold on to beat George Fox 19-13 in a wild slugfest. The Stormy Petrels led 12-1 early in the game, but they hung tight to the lead as the visiting Bruins brought the potential tying run to the plate late. With the win, the team improved to 2-5 on the season.
The top four spots in the Oglethorpe order really came alive on Sunday, as that group collected all 11 Petrel hits. That group included a couple of Petrels who either tied or broke Oglethorpe single-game records. Senior first baseman Jack Bartlewski broke a program single-game record by collecting eight RBIs on the day. He went 4-for-5 at the plate with a grand slam, a triple, a sacrifice fly, and a pair of runs scored. Senor right fielder Patrick Burnette scored five runs to tie the program single-game record. He went 3-for-4 with a three-run homer, two walks and five RBIs on the day.
The Petrels needed those runs, as the two pitching staffs combined to allow 32 runs on 21 hits and 26 walks. The teams combined for seven hit batsmen, as well.
Oglethorpe notched an early unearned run as Bartlewski's first RBI of the day plated junior second baseman Austin Jackson. George Fox answered with a run on a sacrifice fly in the second, but the Petrels came to the plate and tallied seven runs in the inning to take an 8-2 lead. Bartlewski accounted for one of the runs when he tripled over the head of the center fielder and drove in senior designated hitter Andrew Mink. A two-run double by Mink, a two-run infield single by Burnette, and a Jackson run-scoring single also contributed to the huge inning.
The Petrels added more in the third. Walks by Burnette and Mink followed a Billy Finch hit-by-pitch to load the bases with two outs and Bartlewski followed with a grand slam over the right-center field wall. That extended the Oglethorpe lead to 11 runs.
The visiting Bruins began to fight their way back into the game, though, as a Bartlewski run-scoring single in the fifth was sandwiched between seven George Fox runs in the fifth and sixth, cutting the lead to 13-9. The Petrels came up with a big rally in the bottom half of the sixth, though, scoring four runs to push their advantage back out to eight, 17-9. A Burnette three-run homer down the left-feld line followed a Jackson sacrifice fly to account for the scoring in the inning.
The Bruins scored two more runs in each of the next two innings, though, and brought the potential tying run to the plate down 17-13 in the eighth. Junior right-hander Dylan Childress got out of the jam with a strikeout, though, and the Petrels answered with a pair of sacrifice flies from Bartlewski and freshman third baseman Andrew Noack to push their lead back out to six. Childress retired the side after walking the leadoff batter in the ninth, earning his first win of the season.
"I'm really proud of the resiliency our guys came out with today after a few tough losses," said Oglethorpe head coach Dan Giordano. "Lots of guys stepped up today offensively and defensively. We have a long way to go and a lot of work to do, but this was a much-needed win."
The Petrels are scheduled to be back in action Wednesday evening when they welcome Washington and Lee to Anderson Field at 5 p.m.