Box Score

Lawrenceville, GA - No. 24 Piedmont opened up the inaugural Coke, Georgia Division-III Challege at Coolray Field with a convincing 7-1 win over in-state rivals Oglethorpe University Friday afternoon.  On the Gwinnett Braves' home field, the Lions were backed by a brilliant performance by Kevin Caldwell, who took a no-hitter into the seventh inning before allowing an unearned run.  Prior to that, the junior had allowed just a pair of walks and hit a batter.  It took until the home half of the sixth for Piedmont to scratch across the game's first runs on a sac fly followed by an infield hit by senior Kyle Davis that scored a run.

After Caldwell allowed the lone Oglethorpe run, the Lions' offense went right back to work.  Junior Garrett Lovelace drilled a two-run homer to left after senior Kevin D'Antignac singled up the middle to open the inning.  The 4-1 lead was more than enough for the Lions, but the men added insurance runs in the eighth on a bases-clearing double by senior Curtis Cornett.  Fellow senior Ed Cook came in to finish the game in the ninth, striking out one and allowing one hit.

Caldwell tossed eight lights-out innings, allowing just the unearned run on three hits and two walks while striking out 10 hitters.  He improves his record to 2-0 in only Piedmont's third game of the young season.  Lovelace finished with two hits, as did Cornett, D'Antignac and Davis.  The four Lions accounted for eight of the team's 11 hits on the day.  The men continue in the challenge at Coolray Field tomorrow with a 10:00 am start against Emory University.