The Oglethorpe baseball team got its three-game SAA series off to a fantastic start on Friday afternoon in Sewanee, Tenn. They scored four runs in the second and five more in the fifth to jump out to a 9-0 lead and cruise home with the 9-1 victory over Sewanee, extending their winning streak to seven games.
The Stormy Petrels now sit at 16-9 overall and 6-6 in SAA play. The seven consecutive victories is the team's longest such stretch since a nine-game winning streak in 2011.
The Petrels got another excellent start from sophomore right-hander Matt Davis, who improved to 6-1 on the season with seven excellent innings of work. He allowed just one run on seven hits while striking out seven and walking no one. The team also got some very solid contribuitions from the lineup on the afternoon. Freshman catcher Adrian Celata went 2-for-4 with the first home run of his career, a walk, two RBIs and two runs scored. Sophomore third baseman Austin Ferlita went 3-for-5 with a walk and an RBI while senior left fielder Andre Turnquest went 2-for-4 with a double, two walks, two RBIs and two runs scored.
The Petrels jumped on the home-standing Tigers in the second inning. Senior right fielder Joey McAlpin doubled and Celata singled to lead off the inning, putting runners at the corners with nobody out. Freshman first baseman Dee Kelly hit a sacrifice fly to put the Petrels on the board, then a bunt single by senior center fielder Vernon Trice put runners at first and second with one out. Turnquest followed and drove in two with a double, making the score 3-0. He then advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on a single from junior shortstop Spencer Transue.
With a 4-0 lead already, the Petrels blew the game wide open in the fifth. Junior second baseman Keith Dearden walked to lead off the inning, then advanced to second on a wild pitch and third on a groundout. Celata followed with a two-run homer, giving the visitors a 6-0 advantage. The inning wasn't over yet, though. Kelly singled, Trice singled and Transue walked in quick succession to load the bases with one out. Transue followed with a sacrifice fly to extend the OU lead to 7-0, then back-to-back singles by senior designated hitter Patrick Kulick and Ferlita drove in two more to give the Petrels a 9-0 lead.
That was more than enough for Davis and right-handed reliever Kolin Zimmer to work with. Davis allowed a single Tiger run in the seventh, but Zimmer did not allow a run or a hit in two innings of work to finish the game out.
"Matt was really good today," said Head Coach Dan Giordano. "He pounded the zone and kept hitters off-balance all day. Offensively, we had some timely hits and barrelled up some balls, as well. It's always nice to get Game 1 to start a series, but we want to continue to win conference series. We have another opporunity to do that tomorrow and we'll be ready to go."
The Petrels and Tigers will play a doubleheader on Saturday startng at 1 p.m. Eastern time. The second game will be a seven-inning contest and will start 30 minutes after the conclusion of Game 1. Next week, the Petrels will return home to begin a seven-game homestand. They'll take on LaGrange, Emory and Rust over the course of next week before hosting their final SAA series of the season against Centre next weekend.