CONWAY, Ark. – No. 12 Centre baseball split its final Southern Athletic Association doubleheader of the season after a long rain delay, losing the opening matchup against the Hendrix Warriors 8-7 before bouncing back for a 10-6 win in the second game.
Game 1: Hendrix 8, Centre 7
- The Colonels quickly got on the board as
Ben Prather,
Graham Johnson and
Ayden Lohr all singled consecutively to start the game and Centre went up 1-0 in a hurry.
- With the score tied in the fourth, Centre put runners on second and third after
Chase Austin walked and
Baylor Woodall doubled down the line.
Aaron Lopez hit one deep enough to drive in Austin for a sac fly and Centre took a 2-1 lead.
- Centre added to the lead with a two-out rally in the fifth as Lohr doubled and eventually scored after a pair of wild pitches. The Colonels had runners on the corners following a walk to
Evan Weyler and a shot up the middle from
Jonah Porter. Austin connected on a triple into the gap to score both runners and give Centre a 5-1 edge.
- Hendrix got a run back in the fifth, but Centre answered in the next two innings. In the seventh, Centre loaded the bases and Austin picked up another RBI with a sacrifice fly. One inning later, Lopez led off with a base hit and scored on an outfield error to make it 7-2.
- In the bottom of the eighth, the Warriors caught fire at the plate as the first six hitters reached base on four hits, a walk and an error to cut the lead to 7-5. Two RBI groundouts later and Hendrix had completed the comeback, tying the score.
- After getting through the top of the ninth unscathed, Hendrix finished off the game with a one-out RBI single.
Game 2: Centre 10, Hendrix 6
- Centre again wasted no time to score to start the game as Prather worked a leadoff walk and Lohr singled, with the runners eventually ending up on second and third. With two outs, Porter delivered a clutch base hit up the middle to put Centre on top 2-0.
- The Colonels kept the pressure on in the second, loading the bases with no outs after two walks and a hit by pitch.
JT Weisberg drove in pinch runner
Carson Mire with a sacrifice fly. Prather then smacked a double the other way into the gap for another RBI. With two outs, Lopez drove in another with a single, with a Hendrix error leading to Centre's final run of the inning as the Colonels took a 6-0 lead.
- Things stayed that way until the fourth when the Warriors rallied to cut the deficit in half and then tacked on another run in the fifth to make it a 6-4 game.
- Not wanting a repeat of the last game, the Centre bats came through in the clutch the next inning. With two outs, Lohr hustled out an infield hit. Weyler walked and
Jamison Craig was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Pinch hitter
Evan Rygalski then ripped a double down the line to clear the bases and make it 9-4. The Colonels added one more on an RBI single by Lopez to make it 10-4.
- Hendrix refused to quit, scoring twice in the sixth and loading the bases with two outs in the seventh, but
TJ Schira struck out the final hitter of the game to lock up Centre's 26th win of the year.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORES
- One series removed from hitting .556 with three homers, Lohr kept up the hot bat with five hits across the doubleheader to lead all players.
- Lohr and Lopez recorded RBIs in both games. Austin's three RBIs in game 1 and Rygalski's three RBIs in game 2 were both game highs.
NEXT UP
Centre will look to secure the no. 2 seed in the upcoming SAA Tournament with the rubber match against Hendrix on Saturday.
