The Oglethorpe baseball team suffered a doubleheader sweep Saturday at Anderson Field, falling to the visiting Hendrix Warriors 11-6 in Game 1 and 5-4 in Game 2. The losses dropped the Stormy Petrels to 9-26 overall and 5-12 in SAA play.
Hendrix got off to a 2-0 lead in the third inning, but the Petrels responded with three of their own in the bottom half of the frame. Freshman shortstop Andrew Noack led off with a single to center and junior catcher Dylan Childress followed with his first career home run, a long blast over the left-center field fence that tied the game. Two batters later, senior right fielder Patrick Burnette laced a double to the gap in left-center and junior second baseman Austin Jackson followed up with a double to the right-center gap to give Oglethorpe a 3-2 lead.
The Warriors followed up with three more in the fourth, though, vaulting back into the lead 5-3. The Petrels got a run back on an RBI single from senior third baseman Dylan Leonard, making it 5-4 in the bottom of the fifth, then a bases-loaded walk and a run-scoring passed ball combined to give the Petrels the lead back, 6-5, in the bottom of the seventh.
Hendrix scored five unearned runs in the eighth on four Petrel errors, though, taking a 10-6 lead. They added another in the ninth and Oglethorpe was unable to answer back, falling by five runs.
Burnette went 2-for-5 with a pair of doubles, while Noack went 2-for-3 with a walk, an RBI and a run.
Hendrix jumped out to an early lead in Game 2, as well, taking a 3-0 advantage in the top of the first. Oglethorpe came back with single runs in the third and fourth, including a home run by senior designated hitter Andrew Mink in the latter inning which brought the Petrels to within one. The Warriors doubled their lead in the sixth, making it 4-2, but Oglethorpe junior first baseman Jack Bartlewski followed with a game-tying two-run homer in the bottom of the inning.
The Warriors scored a run on a sacrifice fly in the top of the seventh, though, and with the game only scheduled for seven innings, they made their one-run lead hold up late.
Petrel freshman right-hander Jonathan Haab earned the complete game but suffered the loss, allowing five runs on eight hits over seven innings. He struck out 11 Warriors and walked just two, throwing 67 of his 106 pitches for strikes.
The Petrel celebrated Senior Day before Game 1 Saturday. They honored the careers of outfielder Ethan Edwards, right-handed pitcher Tristen Powell, third baseman Dylan Leonard, right-handed pitcher Johnathan Feibus, infielder Andrew Mink, right-handed pitcher Zach Kazerooni, right-handed pitcher Caleb Feibus and outfielder Jacob Gassert.
The Petrels look to close the series with a win Sunday afternoon. The game, originally schedule for noon, has been pushed back to a 2 p.m. first pitch due to forecast storms Sunday morning.