For the second Saturday in a row, the Centre baseball team was competitive on the road against a ranked opponent, but the Colonels again came away with a pair of close losses, falling 2-1 and 2-0 to No. 10 Birmingham-Southern on Saturday in Birmingham, Ala.

The Colonels again came up on the wrong end of two pitchers' duels, the bright spot coming in the fifth inning of the first game when Trevor Brewer (Bowling Green, Ky.) hit a solo shot to right field for his first collegiate home run. 

The series, originally scheduled to be played in Danville, was moved to Birmingham after a heavy snow Wednesday and Thursday blanketed Centre's campus. With several weather-related cancellations or schedule adjustments this season, the team has been forced to open its season in Southern Athletic Association play against top competition, traveling to BSC after a series at No. 21 Rhodes.

Beyond the home run by Brewer, Centre struggled to get the bats going against the Panthers' Blake Stevens and Ryan Gaines. Stevens went the distance on the mound in the first game, striking out eight, with the Colonels' only other hit coming on an infield single by Alex Richardson (Mount Washington, Ky.). 

Though the Colonels came up just short in the first game, they got a strong pitching performance from Rob Caudill (Danville, Ky.), who allowed two runs over seven innings of work while striking out eight. Both of Birmingham-Southern's runs in the game came from a two-run single by Zach Wingate in the top of the third that proved to be enough to hold up for the victory.

The second game played out similarly, with Brewer putting forth a solid performance on the mound, allowing two runs over 6.1 innings of work. However, Gaines was able to shut the Colonels down over the seven inning game, striking out seven, while just allowing singles to Greyson Evans (Kernersville, N.C.) and Trey Litsey (Louisville, Ky.), and a leadoff double by Richardson in the seventh.

The Panthers were able to get their runs in the second game on an RBI single by David Bourbonnais in the second inning and a Jacob Mayfield fielder's choice in the seventh.

The results drop Centre to 0-5 overall and 0-5 in SAA play, while Birmingham-Southern stays perfect at 10-0 overall and 5-0 in the conference. The teams wrap up their series when they meet at noon CST on Sunday.