The Oglethorpe baseball team dropped a non-conference game at LaGrange Tuesday night, falling to the home side, 8-4, after the game was tied 4-4 in the seventh.

After falling behind 1-0 early on, the Petrels took a 2-1 lead in the third. Right fielder Nick Manai reached on an infield single with two out in the inning, and designated hitter Jeff Brothers followed with an RBI double to center field that scored Manai and tied the game. Then, second baseman Keith Dearden doubled to right field to score Brothers and give the Petrels the lead.

However, the home-standing Panthers scored three in the fourth, turning the game back around and giving themselves a 4-2 lead.

The Petrels were not done, however. They stormed back to tie the game with two runs in the seventh. Center fielder Vernon Trice led off the inning with a walk and advanced to second on a balk. Then, Brothers walked with two outs in the inning. Dearden reached on a LaGrange error. Trice scored on the play, pulling Oglethorpe to within a single run. Then, pinch-hitter Jake Purcell came through with a game-tying single as the next batter, scoring Brothers and leveling the score, 4-4.

Unfortunately, the Panthers again came back with three runs the next inning, and this time the lead stuck. LaGrange added an insurance run in the eighth to reach the final 8-4 scoreline.

Joseph Marco suffered the loss in relief for the Petrels, his first of the year. He allowed three runs on two hits and two walks in an inning of work. Joey McAlpin got the start and allowed two earned runs on five hits over four innings of work.

At the plate, Brothers had a good night. He went 2-for-4 with a double, a walk, an RBI and two runs scored.

The loss drops the team to 8-20 on the season. They will host a midweek four-game series against Rust starting Thursday afternoon and culminating Friday. They then travel to Sewanee for a big three-game SAA series over the weekend.