JACKSON, Miss. – The Centre baseball team opened conference play with the first of a three-game series against the Millsaps Majors. After dropping game 1 13-5, the Colonels bounced back with a 17-3 victory in the seven-inning nightcap.
Game 1: Millsaps 13, Centre 5
- The Colonels dug themselves an early five-run hole across the first three innings, but the bats woke up with a two-out rally in the fourth. A single by
Mark Pyburn and a double by
Micah Cowen put freshmen on second and third.
Cole Fergusson then ripped a double down the left field line to put Centre on the board.
- After Millsaps hit a two-run homer in the fourth, Centre got those runs back in the fifth.
Patrick Hope was hit by a pitch, advanced all the way to third on passed balls, and scored on a single by Pyburn. Another passed ball allowed
Teddy Holloway to score to cut the deficit to 7-4.
- Centre got another one back in the top of the sixth after Fergusson led off with a base hit and ended up on second after an error. With two outs,
Jordan Gunter delivered a single to the opposite field to make it 7-5.
- That would be the closest the Colonels got the rest of the way as Millsaps rallied for five runs in the bottom half of the inning and tacked on one more insurance run to take the win.
Game 2: Centre 17, Millsaps 3
- Centre took the early lead in the second game as Gunter singled, stole second and scored after an RBI single from Hope.
- The bats were just getting warmed up as
Luc Morgan worked a walk and eventually scored on a single from Pyburn. Gunter singled to put runners on the corners and one Millsaps error later, Pyburn crossed the plate to make it 3-0.
- A solo homer put Millsaps on the board, but Centre would respond in the fourth. With Morgan on third and
Conner Jackson on second, Gunter ripped a double into the gap to plate two more. One batter later, Hope delivered his second RBI single of the day to put Centre up by five runs.
- From there, the hits kept on coming. In the fifth, Holloway led off with a triple. Fergusson smacked a base hit to make it 6-1.
Will Ahrens was hit by a pitch and the runners advanced on a wild pitch, with Fergusson scoring. Jackson was then hit by a pitch and Pyburn walked to load the bases. Gunter and Hope each worked four-pitch walks to score two more runs, with the final run of the inning coming on a sacrifice fly by
Josh Cunningham.
- The Colonels put up five more runs in their half of the sixth. Fergusson led off with a single, followed by a double from Ahrens. Morgan was hit by a pitch to load the bases and Jackson delivered a single for the first run of the inning. Pinch hitter
Dillon Di Iorio then singled to score pinch runner
Aaron Shaffer. After a Millsaps error allowed Morgan to score, Holloway lined a base hit up the middle to put Centre up 16-1.
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Perry Nadreau scored the final run of the game following an RBI groundout by Jackson
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Carson Werrmann finished off the complete game with a strikeout for the 27th out.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORES
- Gunter went 3-3 at the plate with three RBIs and two runs scored in game 2. Gunter, Pyburn and Fergusson drove in runs in both games.
- The Colonels scored 17 runs in game 2 on 17 hits by ten different players. Eight different Centre players recorded RBIs, led by Gunter and hope with three hits.
- Lost in Centre's offensive explosion in game 2, Werrmann had a fantastic start, going the distance and recording ten strikeouts while only allowing two hits.
NEXT UP
The rubber match for the Centre/Millsaps series will take place on Sunday afternoon.
