Colonels sweep doubleheader from Earlham
One day after opening the 2007 season with a victory, the Centre College baseball team was back at it again, sweeping a doubleheader from Earlham College. Centre won game one 9-0 and game two 10-4, Sunday, Feb. 25, in Danville, Ky.
The Colonels, which have won their first three games for the first time since the 1997 season, improve to 3-0, while Earlham, which was playing its first two games of the season, fall to 0-2.
In the first game, freshman pitcher Justin Basham (Bowling Green, Ky.), in his first collegiate start of his career, threw a complete game seven-inning shutout to lead Centre to a 9-0 victory. The Colonels scored two runs in each of the first three innings and added three more in the fourth to earn their second win of the year.
Basham allowed only four hits and did not walk a batter, while striking out 11 Quakers. The freshman Hurler retired 12 hitters in a row at one time and did not allow a runner to reach third base the entire game. The shutout marks only the second by a Centre pitcher since the 2001 season.
Centre pounded out 10 hits on the day led by a 3 for 3 performance by sophomore third baseman Jake Jones (Griffin, Ga.). Jones scored two runs and drove in two with a two-run home run, his first of the year, in the fourth inning.
Junior outfielder Ben Jeffers (New Albany, Ohio) was 2 for 3 with two runs scored and an rbi and senior first baseman Eric Moore (Bowling Green, Ky.) also recorded two hits in three at bats with an rbi.
Earlham jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the game two, only to see Centre respond with three runs in the bottom half to take a 3-1 lead. Ahead 4-1 in the bottom of the fifth, the Colonels posted five runs to pull away and take a 9-1 lead. The two teams added a run each in the sixth and the Quakers scored two in the top of the seventh, but it wasn't enough as Centre finished with the 10-4 victory.
Senior pitcher Andy Placido (Nicholasville, Ky.) earned his first win of the season. Placido went six innings, allowing only one earned run and striking out three.
Five players posted two hits apiece for the Colonels. Jeffers, Moore and Jones had two more hits on the day, while senior outfielder Kyle Rakes (Ashland, Ky.) and junior catcher Kevin McGee (Louisville, Ky.) also recorded two hits apiece. Jones and McGee also scored a run each and drove in two more in the win.
Centre will return to action, Monday, March 5, when it travels to Maryville, Tenn. to play Maryville College. The doubleheader is scheduled to start at 4:30 p.m.
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