BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (CentreColonels.com) – The Centre baseball team dropped the series finale to fifth-ranked Birmingham Southern by a score of 7-1 on Sunday afternoon at Striplin Field. The Colonels fall to 7-5 on the season and 0-3 in Southern Athletic Association (SAA) play with the loss. The Panthers boost their records to 11-2 overall and 5-1 in the conference.

Birmingham Southern held a slim 1-0 advantage through the first three innings of action before plating four runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to take a 5-0 lead after four frames.

Centre would trim the Panthers' edge to 5-1 in the top of the seventh stanza when junior left fielder Alex Richardson (Mount Washington, Ky.) plated a run with an RBI groundout, scoring senior catcher Zach Montgomery (Louisville, Ky.).

Birmingham Southern answered with two more runs in the bottom half of the inning before holding on for the 7-1 conference victory.

Freshman right fielder Drew Schacht (Lexington, Ky.) (1-for-5), junior second baseman Andrew Olson (Louisville, Ky.) (1-for-4), freshman center fielder Wesley Jorette (Lawrenceburg, Ky.) (1-for-4), freshman third baseman Jacob Crouch (Lawrenceburg, Ky.) (1-for-4) and freshman shortstop Brahm Whittinghill (Sellersburg, Ind.) (1-for-3) each notched a base hit on the day for the Colonels.

Senior pitcher Stephen Shunk (Lexington, Ky.) (1-1) suffered the loss on the mound for Centre, allowing five runs (four earned) on 10 hits with four strikeouts and no walks in four innings.

Matt Brown went 4-for-5 with a double, RBI and a run scored to pace the Panthers offense. Kyle Royalty picked up the win on the hill for Birmingham Southern with six scoreless innings of work, scattering four hits with four strikeouts and three walks.

Centre returns home to host Lincoln Christian in a non-conference doubleheader this Wednesday, March 9 at Gary Wright Field. The first game is slated to begin at 5 p.m. in Danville.