LOUISVILLE, Ky. – St. Xavier High School played host to a home game for Centre baseball as they took on the Hanover Panthers.
 
GAME HIGHLIGHTS
 
- Jordan Gunter led things off for the Colonels with a walk. With two outs in the first, Josh Cunningham singled to put runners at the corners and Teddy Holloway walked to load the bases. Mark Pyburn stepped up and roped a triple to left field that cleared the bases. A Hanover error on the next at-bat plated Pyburn and gave Centre an early 4-0 lead.
- Gunter kick-started another crooked number for Centre in the second with a one-out triple. After a walk to Dillon Di Iorio, Gunter scored on a wild pitch to make it 5-0. Cunningham then walked to put runners on the corners once again. A base hit by Holloway and a bunt single by Pyburn made it 7-0 Centre after two innings.
- After Hanover scored a run in the top of the fourth, the Colonels got it right back in the bottom half as a Cunningham walk, a Hanover error and a Pyburn steal put runners on second and third. Micah Cowen delivered a sacrifice fly as Cunningham crossed the plate for the third time in the game and Centre held onto a seven-run lead at 8-1.
- Hanover looked to threaten again in the fifth, loading the bases with one out, but Will Orren came through with a big strikeout to get out of the jam. In Centre's half of the inning, Gunter led off with a single and Di Iorio walked. Patrick Hope lined a base hit up the middle to plate the Colonels' ninth run of the game.
- Things finally calmed down as the game went on and the night got colder, as the Panthers managed only two runners in scoring position over the final four innings.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
 
- It took just seven hits for the Colonels to score their nine runs. The Centre bats took advantage of two Hanover errors and were patient at the plate, walking nine times.
- Pyburn finished with a game high four RBIs, a young season high for the freshman.
- Gunter and Cunningham each reached base three times and scored every time they got on base.
- The Colonels had an outstanding night on the basepaths, swiping seven bases. Cunningham and Di Iorio finished with two steals each.
- It was a bullpen session for the Centre pitching staff, but David Sickles, Mason King, Will Orren, Karson Thompson, Drake Kawa and Luc Morgan combined for 11 strikeouts versus three walks, while scattering seven hits and allowing just the one run in the fourth.
 
NEXT UP
 
Centre baseball will travel to Birmingham-Southern for early season tournament action over the weekend, beginning with a doubleheader against North Park and Dominican on Saturday.