The Oglethorpe baseball team played a pair of tight games against the Centre Colonels in Danville, Kentucky, Saturday, winning the second 3-2 after falling 7-6 on a walkoff hit in the opener. The results moved the Stormy Petrels to 4-10 on the season overall and 1-4 in SAA play.
The Petrels got an outstanding start from senior left-hander Kyle Babb in Game 2, as he allowed only three hits and two walks in five shutout innings. Meanwhile, the Oglethorpe bats gave him a lead in the third. With two outs, junior left fielder Shota Barbeau singled to left and stole second, and junior shortstop Alex Featherstone walked. They both moved into scoring position on a wild pitch and junior first baseman Alec Babb drove them both in with a double down the right field line, giving the Petrels a 2-0 lead. Senior right fielder Sam Buchanan followed with an RBI single to drive home Babb and give Oglethorpe a 3-0 lead.
Babb left after the fifth, and the Petrel bullpen looked to make the lead hold up. Sophomore right-hander Heshie Getson allowed a single run in the sixth inning of the scheduled seven-inning contest, but left a Colonel on third base. In the seventh and final frame, Centre got another tally off senior right-hander Kyle Blakeney, making the score 3-2, but junior left-hander Reddon McLaurine came on for the one-out save and got the job done with the potential tying runs in scoring position.
McLaurine nabbed his first save of the season, while Kyle Babb improved to 2-1 on the year.
The Petrels took a 3-0 lead in the second inning of Game 1. Sophomore designated hitter Will Arnold walked to lead off the inning and sophomore shortstop Billy Finch followed with a bunt single, putting runners at first and second. The Petrels scored two runs on an error off an Andrew Noack bunt single one batter later, and senior first baseman Sam Held drove Noack in with an RBI groundout on the next batter.
Centre answered with single runs in the third and fourth, but Oglethorpe enjoyed a 2-run fifth when Buchanan doubled down the left field line to score both Alec Babb and Featherstone, making it 5-2.
The Colonels scored 2 runs in the bottom of the inning to make it a 1-run game again, but Oglethorpe got one of those back on a wild pitch in the sixth. A pair of Centre runs in the seventh tied the game 6-6. The Petrels were unable to get much going offensively in the eighth or ninth, but Centre drove in the winning run with a single in the bottom of the ninth, taking the game 7-6.
Sophomore right-hander Jonathan Haab pitched well, allowing 3 earned runs on seven hits over five innings. He walked five and struck out nine. Senior right-hander Dylan Childress pitched well over an inning-and-two-thirds, but suffered his second loss after giving up the winning run in the ninth.
The Petrels rapped seven hits in Game 1 and six in Game 2.
Oglethorpe completes their three-game set from Danville Sunday at 1 p.m.