The Oglethorpe baseball team came back from five runs down after the first two innings to shock regional opponent Huntingdon Tuesday night, 11-10, in Montgomery, Ala. The victory improves the Stormy Petrels to 7-6 on the season, putting them back above .500.

In a game which featured 21 total runs, 29 total hits and five total errors, the Petrels emerged victorious by scoring a total of 10 runs over innings 6-8, including four in the eighth. They used 21 players over the course of the game, including six pitchers. They even used one pitcher twice, as junior Spencer Transue entered the game to pitch in the bottom of the second, threw 3-2/3 innings of scoreless baseball, stayed in the game to play shortstop for the next three innings, then went back to the mound to close out the game in the ninth. Meanwhile, the Petrels held the high-powered Hawks offense to a single run over a five-inning stretch, allowing themselves to get back into the game and eventually take the lead.

Sophomore Justin Thigpen picked up the win in relief for the visitors, the first of his career. He threw two innings of relief and allowed three runs on three hits with two walks mixed in. Transue stole the show for the Petrels on the mound, though, pitching a total of 4-2/3 innings over his non-consecutive stints, allowing no runs on two hits while walking just one and striking out two. He earned his first career save for his efforts. 

Junior second baseman Keith Dearden was the star at the dish for the Petrels. He went 3-for-5 with a home run, a triple, a double, five RBIs and three runs scored, including the tying run in the seventh and the run that proved to be the winning margin in the eighth. Senior left fielder AndreTurnquest had another fantastic game at the plate, going 4-for-6 with a double, a stolen base and two runs scored.

The Petrels began the game well enough, as Turnquest led off with a single, stole second, and was driven home with a double from sophomore third baseman Austin Ferlita, giving Oglethorpe a 1-0 lead. However, things looked like they were turning sour for the Petrels, as they allowed six runs toHuntingdon over the first two innings and fell behind 6-1. 

With an SAA series coming up this weekend and with a couple of injuries and illnesses an issue, the Petrels had to cobble a pitching staff together for the game, but Transue settled things down over his first stint, but the Petrels couldn't get much going offensively, either, so the score remained the same into the sixth.

Things changed very quickly in that inning, though, and the Petrels began to turn the game upside down. Senior designated hitter Patrick Kulick led off the inning with a double and Dearden homeredtwo batters later to pull the Petrels to within three. Senior right fielder Joey McAlpin doubled down the right-field line immediately following Dearden's homer and subsequently scored on an error, bringing the Petrels to within just two, 6-4. 

Huntingdon answered with a run in the bottom half of the inning to make it 7-4, but the Petrels kept coming in the seventh. Senior center fielder Vernon Trice doubled with one out and Ferlitawas hit by a pitch with two outs, setting up Dearden for a two-run double that scored both of them and drew the Petrels to within one. McAlpin again immediately followed with a hit, tying the game at 7-apiece with an RBI single that drove in Dearden. The Petrels left the bases loaded, but they set the Hawks down in order in the bottom half of the inning and came right back with the score tied in the eighth.

Turnquest doubled to lead off the eighth and Trice walked. Kulick reached on an error on a play that allowed Turnquest to score the go-ahead run. Ferlita drove Trice home with a sacrifice fly andDearden came up big for the third time in as many innings, driving Kulick home with an RBI triple.McAlpin again followed with a single, driving in Dearden, and the Petrels suddenly had an 11-7 lead.

Thigpen ran into some trouble in the bottom half of the inning, but escaped it with the lead, 11-10. Transue then came back in the ninth and set the Hawks down in order to secure the wild one-run victory for the Petrels.

"It's a great win versus a very good team," said Head Coach Dan Giordano. "We had to piece together our pitching tonight with a couple of key guys missing, but our staff battled against a lineup that was averaging over eight runs a game. Obviously, we swung the bats extremely well tonight. We were explosive, with nine extra-base hits, but we also had some really good two-strike clutch hits that really keyed the win. It was a fun atmosphere and I'm proud of the guys for coming back after falling behind 6-1. We have another big test ahead of us this weekend as we face Millsaps, another explosive offensive team."

The Petrels will take on the SAA-rival Majors in a three-game series in Jackson, Miss., starting with a doubleheader on Saturday. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. Eastern on that day, then the two teams will return to the ballpark on Sunday to complete the three-game set at 2 p.m. Eastern. They'll then travel to take on LaGrange in the middle of next week before finally returning home for a seven-game homestand late in the month.