DANVILLE, Ky. – It was the coldest day in the history of Gary Wright Field as Centre baseball hosted Carthage and Brevard in doubleheader action. After getting an 11-1 run rule victory over the Firebirds, the Colonels walked it off to defeat the Tornados 6-5 in extra innings.
Game 1: Centre 11, Carthage 1 (7 innings)
- The Colonels cracked the scoreboard first in the bottom of the first as six Centre batters walked to produce two runs.
Evan Weyler got credit for an RBI with a bases loaded walk.
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Harrison Cowdrey allowed a run in the second on a sacrifice fly, but kept the Firebirds at bay until the fifth when the Centre offense had its biggest inning of the young season.
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Ayden Lohr legged out an infield hit – the Colonels' first of the game – to start the rally, followed by a double by
Ben Prather over the right fielder's head. A walk to
Chase Austin loaded the bases and Weyler ripped a base hit through the right side to plate two. The Colonels loaded the bases again after an error and
Graham Johnson's RBI groundout made it 5-1. Johnson and Weyler then executed a perfect double steal as Weyler stole home to make it a 6-1 game.
- The run continued as
JT Weisberg hit one the other way for an RBI single and
Jamison Craig doubled off the wall in left field for an 8-1 Centre lead. A walk to
Forrest Day and a single by Lohr loaded the bases yet again and Prather smacked one up the middle to plate two more. Another Carthage error resulted in the final run of the inning and capped off a nine-run frame for the Colonels.
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Aidan Carr came on in relief of Cowdrey and pitched a scoreless seventh inning to lock down the run rule win for Centre.
Game 2: Centre 6, Brevard 5 (10 innings)
- The Colonels again took advantage of pitching miscues in the first inning as they loaded the bases with two hit by pitches and a walk. Centre plated its first run when Prather scored on a wild pitch. Weisberg drove in another with a sacrifice fly and
Baylor Woodall capped off the three-run first with an RBI single.
- Brevard slowly chipped away at the lead with runs in each of the next two innings, but Centre tacked on an insurance run in the fourth with a two-out rally that ended with Prather scoring on another wild pitch to make it 4-2.
- In the top of the fifth, the Tornados staged a two-out rally of their own with four straight hits to tie the game. From there, the game belonged to the bullpens as both teams struggled to mount offense in the later innings.
- The game moved to extras and in the tenth, the Tornados finally got something going as a leadoff single and deep double got the go-ahead run on the board.
- Now with their backs against the wall, the Centre offense struck quickly. Weisberg led off with a shot up the middle for a base hit. Woodall then singled down the left field line. Craig reached on an error that allowed the tying run to cross the plate. After
Aaron Lopez was hit by a pitch, Prather stepped in the box with the bases loaded and delivered, ripping a single through the left side to score Craig for the winning run.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORES
- Cowdrey earned the victory in game 1 after allowing just one run in six innings of work while striking out seven.
- The Colonels walked 16 times in the doubleheader, including ten in the opening contest against Carthage.
- Lohr and Prather combined for four hits and five runs in game 1. Weyler led the Colonels with three RBIs against Carthage.
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Zach Heavern picked up the win in game 2 with his longest career outing, allowing just three hits and a run in 5.1 innings of relief.
- Prather, Woodall and Austin each finished with two hits against Brevard.
NEXT UP
The Colonels will play a rematch against Brevard on Sunday at 3 PM.
