Baseball News

Centre takes first two from Oglethorpe

The Centre College baseball team opened the weekend with a pair of wins 3-1 and 8-6 over Oglethorpe University in a conference double header Saturday, April 5 at Gary Wright Field in Danville, Ky.

With the wins the Colonels move up to third place in the SCAC east standings, improving to 13-10 on the season, 4-6 in conference. The losses drop the Stormy Petrels to 7-22 on the year, 4-6 in the conference.

Game one featured a pitching duel between Centre senior John Herbert (Louisville, Ky.) and Oglethorpe starter Brad Brickhouse. After each pitcher started with scoreless innings, the Stormy Petrels got to Herbert first with a run in the second inning coming off a walk, single, and a pair of Colonel errors to go ahead 1-0.

After missing opportunities in the third and fourth innings with runners on base, Centre finally pushed their first runs across in the fifth inning. Sophomore Jose Ordonez (Boston, Mass.) started the rally with a single and a stolen base then a walk to Steven Kull (Frankfort, Ky.) put two runners on for junior Jeffrey Williams (Knoxville, Tenn.). Williams doubled to center field, driving in two to put the Colonels ahead 2-1. Freshman Steven Proctor (Springfield, Ga.) followed with a single of his own to score Williams and give Centre the 3-1 lead.

Oglethorpe was unable to get anything going offensively after the second inning as Herbert allowed only one hit and one walk in his final five innings of work.

Herbert went the distance for the Colonels to pick up the win and improve to 5-0 on the season. He allowed only one unearned run in the victory on two hits while walking two and striking out four.

The Colonels could only come up with five hits on the day. Williams led the way going 1-3 with a double, two runs driven in, and a run scored. Proctor also had a single and drove in a run.

Oglethorpe starter Brad Brickhouse took the loss for the Stormy Petrels falling to 0-4 on the season. Brickhouse allowed three runs on five hits while walking four and striking out two.

In game two of the double-header the Colonels bats came alive as Centre defeated Oglethorpe 8-6. After three scoreless innings, the Colonels got on the board first with a run in the bottom of the fourth. Junior Brandon Rosen (Ashland, Ky.) started the inning with a double and would score on a wild pitch to give Centre the early 1-0 lead.

The Stormy Petrels answered with a run in their own in the fifth off Centre pitcher Aaron Herbert (Louisville, Ky.). Following a lead off walk, catcher Andrew Lofholm doubled to drive in a run and tie the game at 1-1.

With the score tied at 1-1 in the bottom of the sixth, the Colonels' offense came alive for four runs in the sixth and three in the seventh. Freshman Cory Crowdis (Louisville, Ky.) started the inning with a single and scored on a single by senior Kevin McGee (Louisville, Ky.). Jeffrey Williams then doubled and was driven in by a two run single by Steven Proctor. Ben Jeffers singled to score Proctor to put Centre ahead 5-1 after six.

The seventh inning featured much of the same as Rosen and Crowdis started the inning with back to back singles. McGee then doubled to score two and Kull drove in one with a ground out to put Centre up 8-1.

Oglethorpe added one in the eighth inning, and would rally in the ninth to make things interesting. The Stormy Petrels started the rally with a single, then following a walk and another single, Brendan Pilger hit a grand slam to make the score 8-6. That was all the Stormy Petrels would get as Herbert got the next batter to fly out to end the game.

Aaron Herbert picked up the win for the Colonels, improving to 4-3 on the season. He came on in relief for in the third inning and threw the final seven innings of the game, allowing only two earned runs in his first six innings of work. For the game he went seven innings allowing six runs on eight hits with two walks and four strikeouts. He relieved starter John Herbert who started game two after pitching game one. John Herbert went two innings allowing no runs on one hit while striking out three. The seven total strikeouts on the day put him at a tie for the single season strikeout record with 67.

Freshman Cory Crowdis led the way at the plate for the Colonels picking up three hits and scoring two runs in the victory. Proctor, Jeffers, Rosen, and McGee each had two hits for Centre as well as they pounded out 13 total hits in the game.

Nick Greenfield fell to 1-6 for Oglethorpe as he went one inning in relief, allowing seven runs, six earned, on eight hits while walking one and striking out one.

Brendan Pilger's home run was one of the lone bright spots for the Stormy Petrels in the loss. Pilger went 3-5 at the plate with a homerun, a double, a run scored, and four batted in.

Centre and Oglethorpe will return to action as the teams are set to square off for another double-header Sunday, April 6 at Gary Wright Field in Danville, Ky. First pitch is set for 12 pm.