DANVILLE, Ky. – Centre baseball officially cut the ribbon for the grand opening of Gary Wright Field at Fishman Park as they began play at their new home with a doubleheader against the 14-1 Hendrix Warriors. The Colonels walked off for a 5-4 victory in game 1 before dropping a 2-1 decision in a game 2 pitchers' duel.
GAME 1: Centre 5, Hendrix 4
- The Warriors got on the board first in the opening inning on a sacrifice fly, but Centre starter
Jess Miller settled down, pitching out of jams and only allowing one more run the rest of the way.
- Trailing 2-0 in the sixth,
Josh Cunningham led off with a walk and
Teddy Holloway legged out a triple down the right field line to score the first run of the game for the Colonels.
- In Centre's half of the seventh,
Dillon Di Iorio connected on a pinch hit opposite field single to lead off. Following a sacrifice,
Jordan Gunter delivered a double into the right center field gap to tie the score.
Patrick Hope then hit a blooper up the middle that dropped to score Gunter and put Centre up 3-2.
- Hendrix retook the lead on a two-run pinch hit double in the eighth. Down to their final three outs,
Karson Thompson led off the bottom half of the ninth with a pinch hit single, then advanced to second after a pickoff attempt sailed into the visiting dugout.
Mark Pyburn reached on a bunt single and stole second, leaving runners on second and third for Gunter, who walked it off with a base hit to center field.
GAME 2: Hendrix 2, Centre 1
- Cunningham manufactured the opening run of the game single-handedly. He led off the second inning with a single, stole second and eventually scored after a pickoff attempt went into the outfield.
- The Warriors came back in the third, scoring two runs on two hits and a balk. Starter Jack Hodgins was outstanding, striking out 14 Centre batters, and the Hendrix bullpen shut the door in the seventh inning to secure the split.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORES
- Miller finished with seven strikeouts across his six innings, finishing one shy of a career high.
- Gunter had another outstanding day at the plate in game 1, going 2-3 with three RBIs.
- The Colonels were a perfect 3-for-3 on stolen base attempts, with Cunningham providing two and Pyburn eventually scoring the winning run after his steal in the ninth.
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Carson Werrmann went the distance in the second game, taking a hard luck loss after allowing just five hits and two runs over seven innings.
NEXT UP
Centre baseball will wrap up their series with Hendrix on Monday at noon.
