The Oglethorpe baseball team used a five-run fifth inning to knock off crosstown rival Emory 7-6 Wednesday night at Anderson Field. The victory improves the Stormy Petrels to 6-5 going into an SAA series this weekend at Rhodes.
The Petrels fell behind 1-0 in the second, but took the lead in the bottom half of the inning when right fielder Joey McAlpin singled in second baseman Keith Dearden and center fielder Vernon Trice scored on an Emory error. However, the Petrels left three men on base in the inning and had to settle for a one-run lead. Emory then came back with two in the top of the third to retake the lead, 3-2, and scored an additional run in the fifth to made it a 4-2 advantage.
However, the Petrels came up with a monster inning in the bottom of the fifth, scoring five runs on just two hits. The Petrels got three straight walks and loaded the bases with two outs. Then Trice took a hit-by-pitch that drove in a run and brought the Petrels to within a single run. McAlpin followed that with a two-run single off the diving Emory shortstop's glove to give the Petrels a 5-4 lead. The next batter, third baseman Frank Sarno, drove in two runs of his own on a bad-hop grounder that turned into a single and, though he was thrown out trying to advance to second on the play, the Petrels had a 7-4 lead.
The Petrels then turned to their relief trio of sophomore Joe Marco, senior David Langhan and junior Patrick Kulick to close the game out. Marco got through two innings allowing just two hits and striking out two. Langhan pitched two-thirds of an inning and allowed two unearned runs on a hit and two walks. He was relieved by Kulick, who recorded his second save of the season by going 1-2/3 innings and walking two, but not allowing a hit. Emory got the potential tying run to third base with one out in the ninth, but Kulick recorded the second out with a strikeout and then got the final batter to fly out down the right field line. Brandon Fish, who replaced McAlpin for defensive purposes, made a nice running catch to finish the game off.
Freshman Sam Traxler recorded his second win of the season, improving to 2-0. He went two innings and allowed a run on two hits.
McAlpin finished the day 2-for-4 with three RBIs, a run scored and a stolen base. Sarno also went 2-for-4 with two RBIs.
Saturday's doubleheader against Rhodes in Memphis, Tenn., gets started at 2 p.m. Eastern. Sunday's single game begins at 1 p.m. Eastern.