Box Score

Demorest, GA -- The Piedmont College baseball team evened the score with in-state rival Oglethorpe University earlier tonight taking down the Stormy Petrels 7-6 in an extra-inning affair at Loudermilk Field.  After Oglethorpe came back to tie the score in the top of the ninth, a wild pitch in the bottom of the tenth sent outfielder Kyle Davis across the plate for the Lions fifth win in as many games.

Striking first on the scoreboard was the home team who tallied a 1-0 lead after two with a Kyle Davis RBI, the outfielder's 23rd of the 2011 season. The Lions then added a trio of scores in the bottom of the third to push their margin to 4-0 as starting pitcher Matt Lisk continued to hold the visitors scoreless.

Catcher James Moyer doubled in a run to open up the scoring in the PC third just before recently named GSAC Player of the Week Ethan Miers collected a RBI to make it 3-0 home team. With the bases chock full of Lions, a walk issued by the Stormy Petrel bullpen put Miers across the plate to score for the 4-0 Lion lead.

Oglethorpe snagged a pair of runs in the top of the fourth to cut the margin in half at 4-2, but Piedmont quickly got those scores back in the bottom half of the same inning with a two spot of their own. Designated hitter Kevin McConnell knocked a long sac fly to get the first Lion run on the board while Miers picked up his second RBI of the night on a sac bunt.

The Stormy Petrels tried to storm back after finding themselves trailing by four in the middle innings in an effort to break up the Lions' winning momentum. Oglethorpe grabbed a single run in the top of the sixth and added two more in the top of the eighth to cut the margin down to just a single run with one inning to play.

However, once again the Lion fans heard a familiar tune at Loudermilk Field when closer Matt Collins jogged down from the bullpen to the mound to toss the Oglethorpe ninth. After striking out the first batter he saw, Collins put the next Stormy Petrel aboard with a walk before allowing a base hit that quickly headed south as a PC error allowed the base runners to second and third.

The Lions' fears then came to fruition as a third-base side chopper that the Piedmont infield couldn't make a play on turned into Oglethorpe's sixth and game-tying run. With the score deadlocked at 6-6 and the go ahead run at third as the bases sat full of Stormy Petrels, the steady closer induced a shallow pop-up which he calmly gloved for the third out in the top of the ninth.

After the Lions stayed scoreless in the ninth, Collins stepped back on the hill for the top of the tenth to retire all three batters he faced with two of those coming by way of strike out. The drama then switched scenes as the two moved to bottom of the tenth still tied at six a piece.

After Kyle Davis led off the Piedmont tenth with a double and later advanced on a sac fly from fellow outfielder Tate Koons, the winning run sat a mere 90 feet away from home with only one out. Second baseman John Duke then reached on an infield single though Davis was kept in check by the visiting infield holding at third base.

First baseman Curtis Cornett was intentionally walked to load the bases for designated hitter Kevin McConnell who came up with just one out. However, McConnell would not need be the hero as a pitch from Oglethorpe went awry allowing Davis to cross home scoring the game-winning run for the home team giving PC a 7-6 victory in ten innings.

Collins got the win for the Lions going two innings and allowing a single score in the process as he moves to 2-0 on the year.  Davis was the squad's hitting leader on the night with his three for five performance at the plate that included two RBIs and a run scored. 

The Lions had some other notable streaks either extend or end as well in tonight's extra-inning thriller as Kyle Davis now sits one game shy of a second 13-game hitting streak on the season.  While Davis extended his mark, reliever Ed Cook saw his stretch of over eight innings without allowing a hit come to a close allowing a baseknock in the eitghth inning of tonight's affair.

The win stretches Piedmont's current winning streak to five straight with a 22-12 overall record after evening the season series with OU at 1-1. The Lions now will host the Scots of Maryville College on the weekend for a three-game conference series that will go a ways to deciding the Great South Athletic Conference regular season champion. That weekend three-gamer will kick off on Saturday evening with a 7:00 contest at Loudermilk Field.