By Dylan Feltovich
Special to D3sports.com
EASTLAKE, Ohio - Lynchburg’s chances to repeat got another step closer to reality as Lynchburg, the defending champion and the No. 8 seed, defeated No. 5 seed Misericordia 6-2 in a winner’s bracket game at the Division III World Series.
The Hornets built off their offensive success from Friday night in Saturday’s matchup, tallying 10 hits and five walks.
“I think our offense can be, quite frankly, sometimes underestimated,” said Lynchburg coach Travis Beazley. “They’ve shown it the past two games with a lot of confidence and competitive at bats.”
While the bats were hot for Lynchburg, it was starting pitcher Nick Mattfield that helped fuel the Hornets to their second consecutive victory of the tournament. The senior pitcher went 8-2/3 innings, while giving up two runs on six hits and seven strikeouts.
“I had really good command of all my pitches today,” stated Mattfield, when asked about his outing. “I felt like I was able to keep them off balance today.”
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| Nick Mattfield finished one out short of a complete game, saving the Lynchburg bullpen for another day. Photo by Patrick Coleman, D3sports.com | More photos from this game |
Lynchburg struck first in the bottom of the third inning, thanks to six consecutive hits with two outs. Sophomore shortstop Brandon Garcia started the rally with a single, followed by a double from junior Benton Jones and a two-RBI single from junior Quinn Madden.
“[Maryniak] was relying heavily on his offspeed the first time through the lineup,” said Madden, about his two-RBI single. “So I figured that since he got me out with [the off speed] the first time, he would go back to it. Sure enough, I got he gave it to me first pitch.”
Catcher Riley O’Donovan kept the inning alive with a single of his own, while first baseman Eric Hiett capped off the scoring effort with a RBI single to make it 3-0.
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Misericordia’s Connor Maryniak went on to toss two more scoreless innings, but the Hornets would extend their lead in the bottom of the sixth off an Eddie Gimble single to make it 4-0.
Lynchburg relied on their “piece-by-piece” offensive approach for the rest of the contest. A slew of walks and a balk led to a run in the seventh, and an O’Kelly McWilliams IV in the eighth to make it 6-0.
While the Cougars’ offense did not have the spark early on, it was a combination of left fielder Joe Comins and multiple pinch hitters that powered the lineup late in the game. Comins and Andrew Van Horn got the momentum going in the ninth with back-to-back singles, which paved the way to a pinch hit double from Jeff Policarpio to make it a 6-2 ballgame.
“We haven’t really had to rely on guys coming off the bench for us in the past couple months,” said Misericordia coach Pete Egbert. So it was good to see Van Horn get a couple hits and Policarpio deliver in the ninth.”
With two outs, reliefer Colin McGuire would come in for Mattfield with two outs to end the Cougar’s rally attempts.
Misericordia will be back in action tomorrow against Endicott in an elimination matchup at 11 a.m., while Lynchburg will square off with the winner on Monday at 10 a.m.