ATLANTA—Will Marconi struck out a career high 11 across seven dominating innings before the Oglethorpe baseball team walked off with a 2-1 win coming finally from an RBI single in the 10th inning from Matt Huckabee Friday night in the opener of the three-game Southern Athletic Association series.

The win moved Oglethorpe to 11-13 overall and 5-5 in the SAA.

Marconi's effort was matched by Colin Stewart who threw three no-hit innings of relief in keeping the game tied 1-1 before Huckabee delivered in the bottom of the 10th. Marconi's final line was seven innings, five hits, one earned run, two walks and 11 K's on 109 pitches, 78 of which he threw for strikes. He did not receive a decision despite turning in the best start of his collegiate career.

Stewart did to move to 3-1 on the year after going three innings with no hits, no runs, one walk and five strikeouts. He faced only three over the minimum.

Marconi and Stewart both ran into trouble at one point or another but, like their overall performances, escaped masterfully. Marconi faced the bases loaded and one out in the top of the fourth but two strikeouts helped him end the threat. He then carried that momentum to the fifth where he struck out the side after a lead-off error saw the first batter reach.

Stewart faced a similar scenario in the ninth as Marconi's fourth. When the Majors put two on with one out in a 1-1 game in what could have been the final inning, Stewart cooly ended the frame with a strikeout and a soft flyout.

Millsaps looked to take the lead in the 10th off Stewart when the first batter reached and was moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. This set up the go-ahead run in scoring position with only one out, but Stewart again coaxed a flyout then ended the frame on a punchout.

Oglethorpe had plenty of chances along the way to take the lead and even post a big inning but came up empty in all but the second and 10th. In the sixth and eighth innings, the Stormy Petrels had the bases loaded with one out, and in the ninth, they had two on with nobody out.

This all became a moot point in the 10th when Mason Pearcy led off with a single to left, then Nick Tarantino moved him to second when he took a pitch off the helmet. Two batters later, Huckabee slapped a single through the right side that saw Pearcy slide in at home for the walk-off winning run on a close play at the plate.

Game Notes

• Millsaps was the first on the board with a run in the top of the second on an RBI single, but Oglethorpe answered in the bottom half with a run off an RBI single from Isaiah Pou, scoring Tarantino.
• After the second, neither team scored until the winning run in the bottom of the 10th.
•  Marconi's previous career high for strikeouts was eight which he recorded earlier this year in four and one-third innings against Fontbonne.
• Six Petrels posted multiple hits, including Pou (2-for-5), Cooper Krause (2-for-3) and Tarantino (2-for-3).
• Oglethorpe is now 2-1 in extra innings and has gone to extra innings in each of the last two games.
• Marconi and Stewart's combined 16 strikeouts marked the team's top strikeout effort of the season. The pair had 15 strikeouts through nine innings, one off the Oglethorpe record for a regulation nine-inning game. Oglethorpe's all-time strikeouts record is also the NCAA Division III record of 27 strikeouts set in 21 innings on April 22, 2011.

Up Next

Oglethorpe and Millsaps finish the series with a doubleheader Saturday at 12 p.m.