FERRUM, Va. – Ferrum College used a three-run fifth to break a 2-2 and the Panthers held on in the late innings to take an 8-4 victory over Bridgewater College in the Eagles' season-opener Tuesday.
Bridgewater took advantage of two Panthers errors in the second to get on the board first. Darren Yoder reached second on a two-base error by the left-fielder and then scored on an error at short for a 1-0 Bridgewater lead.
Ferrum put two runs on the board in the bottom of the error to take its first lead. Taylor Davis led off with a walk and Justin Cox was hit by a pitch to put two runners on with no outs. After the runners moved up on a sacrifice bunt, Wes Walker plated Davis with a sacrifice bunt to tie the score at 1-1. After Eagles starter Corey Armentrout hit Eddie McGrath with a pitch, Teddy Turner put the Panthers on top 2-1 with a single to center.
Bridgewater tied the score with a run in the fourth. Derrik Walling was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning and moved to second on Yoder's sacrifice bunt. Walling scored on a single by Ryan Smith, tying the score at 2-2.
Ferrum broke the tie with its three-run outburst in the fifth. Clay Massie delivered the key hit in the frame with a two-run double off Robert Gallet.
The Panthers added two more runs in the seventh to take a 7-2 lead. Ferrum had just one hit in the inning as a walk and a single by Walker and an infield error loaded the sacks with no outs. Massie drew a walk to plate one run and Ryan Morris plated the second run with a sacrifice fly.
The teams then traded runs in the eighth. Walling homered to lead off the top of the inning for the Eagles, but Walker answered with a run-scoring single for the Panthers in the bottom of the inning, making the score 8-3.
The Eagles made things interesting in the ninth. With one out, the Eagles loaded the bases on singles by Nick Fulk, Jonathan Mason and Andrew Hacker. Fulk scored on Walling's groundout to make it 8-4 and the Eagles reloaded the sacks when pinch-hitter Matt Maher walked. Ferrum pitcher Adam Duncan ended the contest by retiring Christian Armstrong on a grounder to second for the final out of the game.