CLEVELAND - Centre baseball began NCAA Tournament play for the second season in a row as they opened up the double elimination pod with a game against the Arcadia Knights. A disastrous third inning spelled doom for the Colonels, who lost 11-3.
GAME HIGHLIGHTS
- The Colonels got off to a fast start as their first three hitters reached.
Ben Prather worked a leadoff walk and then singles from
Graham Johnson and
Ayden Lohr gave Centre a quick 1-0 lead.
- Things fell apart in the third inning as three Centre errors led to six runs for the Knights, five of them unearned.
- Centre got a run back in the fourth as the Colonels put runners on the corners on base hits by
Aaron Lopez and
JT Weisberg. An RBI groundout by Prather drove in Lopez and cut the deficit to 6-2.
- Arcadia added to the lead with an RBI groundout in the seventh and then tacked on four more in the eighth to make it an 11-2 game.
- The last run of the game came on an RBI double in the bottom of the ninth by Johnson to drive in Prather.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Johnson, Lohr and Weisberg each finished with two hits to lead the Colonels.
- Centre pitchers struck out 11 Arcadia batters, led by five from
Harrison Cowdrey.
NEXT UP
The Colonels will have an early start on Saturday as they face North Central in an elimination game at 8:30 AM. With a win, Centre will play again later that afternoon to keep its season alive.
