DANVILLE, Ky. – Centre baseball returned to Gary Wright Field for an intrastate rivalry matchup with the Transylvania Pioneers. In a game that saw the lead change hands five times, the Colonels came out on top by a score of 9-5 for their 16th win of the year.
GAME HIGHLIGHTS
- Centre started this one off with a bang on the second at-bat of the game as
Ayden Lohr lifted a ball to the gap in right center field and it carried over the fence for a solo homer.
- In the third, the Colonels doubled the lead with a two-out rally.
Ben Prather walked and Lohr was inches away from his second home run of the night, but had to settle for a double off the base of the wall. This put runners on second and third and
Jonah Porter beat out an infield hit to drive in Prather for a 2-0 lead.
- Transy answered back in the fourth with clutch hitting of their own, scoring three runs with two outs to take the lead following two triples, a single and a wild pitch.
- Centre delivered the counter punch in the bottom of the inning. With two outs again,
Aaron Lopez walked and
Baylor Woodall was hit by a pitch. Pinch hitter
Graham Johnson worked a walk to load the bases for Prather and the All-American came through, slashing a base hit the other way for two RBIs and a 4-3 Centre lead.
- The first two Pioneer hitters singled to start the fifth, and after a sacrifice bunt, a single drove both runners in to put Transylvania back on top 5-4.
- Things finally calmed down for two innings before the Colonels struck in the bottom of the seventh.
Jonah Porter led off by ripping a double to the opposite field. With two outs, Transylvania intentionally walked
Chase Austin to pitch to Lopez, and the Centre second baseman made the Pioneers pay with a base hit to tie the game.
- From there, the Pioneers got wild. Woodall walked to load the bases.
Forrest Day and Prather then worked consecutive bases loaded walks to drive in a pair of runs and Centre led 7-5 after seven.
- In the eighth,
Evan Rygalski started a rally with a hard single off the first baseman's glove.
Evan Weyler legged out a high chopper for a single and Austin was hit by a pitch to load the bases again. Lopez and Day each singled through the right side to put Centre on top by a 9-5 margin.
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TJ Schira struck out a pair in the ninth to lock down the win.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Centre finished with 13 hits on the night, but no player had more than two hits in the game. Prather, Lopez and Day all finished with multiple RBIs.
- Schira earned his first victory of the season with an excellent long relief outing as he worked a career high 4.2 innings and allowed one hit and no runs while striking out a career high seven batters.
NEXT UP
The Colonels will return to action on Mar. 29 with the first two of a three-game non-conference series against the LaGrange Panthers.
