The Oglethorpe baseball team used a furious eighth-inning rally to get their first win of the year, beating crosstown-rival Emory 7-5 on Sunday afternoon. The Petrels scored four runs in the inning, taking back the game after blowing a 3-0 lead in the sixth.
The Petrels scored four runs in the decisive eighth inning. Neal Amos, normally a pitcher but performing ably in a right-field start, drew a leadoff walk in the inning. Second baseman Jake Spear followed with a single, and center fielder Jeff Pope with a sacrifice bunt, his second of the game. Then Matt Cornwell, who started at shortstop but was pitching at the time, delivered a game-tying two-run single. Left fielder Brendan Pilger kept the rally going with a double, and after an intentional walk of catcher Jeff Brothers, third baseman Cory Leff delivered the eventual game-winning two-run single.
The Petrels grabbed a 3-0 lead early in the game. They tallied two runs without the benefit of a hit in the third inning. Emory pitching walked four hitters in the inning, and the other Oglethorpe run came on a Leff fielder's choice-RBI. In the fourth inning, catcher Joseph Parillo led off with a double, advanced to third on a wild pitch and came home on an Amos RBI groundout.
However, an Emory five-run sixth inning erased the early lead and set up the late-inning heroics.
Cornwell picked up the win for the Petrels, pitching two scoreless innings in relief, striking out three. Leff also pitched well after starting the game in the field. He threw 1 2/3 innings of scoreless ball, allowing just one hit and one walk and getting the Petrels out of Emory's five-run inning, which paid dividends later in the game.
At the plate, Leff went 2-for-5 with three RBIs. Brothers and Spear both went 2-for-2 with two walks. Brothers also had an RBI on a bases-loaded walk.
With the win, the Petrels improve to 1-2 on the young season. Their next game will come Tuesday at Anderson Field, where they will take on Piedmont at 5 p.m. They will travel to LaGrange on Wednesday, and then take a few days off before getting back to action on Sunday against Washington & Lee.
