Richmond, Va. -- "They are going bonkers! Ring the bell, Lynchburg! It's another ODAC championship!"
Well, it is actually the 10th Old Dominion Athletic Conference championship for the University of Lynchburg baseball team and Lynchburg's second in three years.
On Saturday, the Hornets won the 2023 crown with an 11-9 comeback victory over last year's champion Shenandoah.
With the bases loaded and two outs, Jack Bachmore, the 2023 ODAC pitcher of the year, sealed the victory in the 9th with a strikeout. As the Hornets stormed the turf infield at Pitt Field on the campus of University of Richmond, their eight-run deficit in the 5th inning was fully in the rear-view mirror.
Beginning with a home run from Gavin Collins in the bottom of the 5th, Lynchburg stormed back to take a 9-8 lead in the 6th. Avery Neaves, Carrson Atkins, and Brandon Garcia totaled two RBI each in the miraculous comeback.
Bachmore tallied his 11th save of the year with a heroic three-inning performance in relief. He worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the top of the 9th for the win. Freshman Logan Tapman earned the W with 1.1 innings of shutout-relief work.
Lynchburg (38-6) defeated second-ranked Shenandoah for the second time in the tournament and swept play during the championship's double-elimination weekend. The Hornets broke the program record for single-season wins on Friday and added to the total with 38.
The Hornets earned the ODAC's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament with the victory and await the announcement of the full postseason field for opponents and location on Monday, May 15 at noon.