By Danny Gibel
Special to D3sports.com
EASTLAKE, Ohio – Lynchburg’s quest to repeat as national champions picked up steam in Game 2 of the World Series with a 7-2 win over No. 1 Endicott.
Endicott entered Friday’s contest boasting a team OPS of .929 and a 46-2 record. Even though Lynchburg was the defending champion, their first-round draw was not in their favor.
“We knew it was going to be a challenge,” head coach Travis Beazley said. “But I think we knew we had a shot with Wes Arrington on the mound.”
- Photo gallery: Misericordia vs. Pomona-Pitzer
- D-III World Series: Preview
- One last chance for Birmingham-Southern
- Lynchburg's title defense still alive
The driving force behind the Hornets’ win was Wesley Arrington, who stared down a formidable Gulls lineup all afternoon. The senior right-hander went nine innings and struck out 12, the final two batters in each of the last two innings.
|
| Wes Arrington was straight dealin' all game. Photo by Patrick Coleman, D3sports.com | More photos from this game |
Even though his pitch count ended at 132 and he ran into a late-inning jam, Arrington stayed locked in and trusted his stuff.
“[Having to escape a bases-loaded jam in the eighth inning] really propelled me and got my adrenaline going a little bit more, taking my mind off being tired and just pitching,” said Arrington.
The Gulls paid for multiple errors and mistakes they made throughout the game. As a result, two of the Hornets’ seven runs were unearned.
After a quiet first inning, Lynchburg made some noise in the top half of the second. The Hornets scored four runs on just two hits. Three of the four Hornets that crossed home plate reached via walk, hit-by-pitch, and an error.
- D3baseball.com World Series Scoreboard
- D-III World Series Record Book
- D3baseball.com World Series Program
“We didn't have to do a whole lot different than what we've done the last two weeks,” said Beazley. “Guys competed at a couple of really good at-bats, and we're able to capitalize and, you know, then beyond that, it's about putting pressure on him and trying to just tack on one or two.”
Endicott starter Jordan Gottesman committed a cardinal sin for a pitcher, he walked Sean Pokorak to lead off the inning. Eric Hiett then took a more aggressive approach and ripped a double to right field, setting the table for the ensuing four-run rally.
The Hornets played pass the baton as they plated eight batters in the inning, but it was Joe Munitz and Brandon Garcia that did the damage. Munitz chopped a ground ball that snuck past first baseman Danny MacDougall that allowed two runs to score, although only one was earned. Garcia then lined a two-run single up the middle on the first pitch of his at-bat.
Another error by the Gulls in the fourth inning resulted in another run for the Hornets. This time Garcia grounded a ball to the second baseman Dylan Pacheco whose throw pulled MacDougall off the bag. By failing to record what would have been the third out of the inning, O’Kelly McWilliams IV made his way around third and scored after a two out double.
More insurance for the Hornets came in the sixth inning as Garcia delivered with runners in scoring position once more. The sophomore leadoff hitter served one into center field that was plenty deep enough to score Munitz from third base. It marked Garcia’s third RBI of the afternoon and his 35th of the season.
Garcia’s RBI single ended Gottesman’s day on the mound. While he did surrender four earned runs, he battled in an outing where he admitted he did not have his best stuff.
“I wasn't pitching my best. I just knew I had to go back out there and execute my pitches,” said Gottesman. “My defense would help me out as they have all year. So, it was kind of just getting back out there and saying confident.
After Arrington blanked the Gulls for 5.2 innings, they strung together three consecutive hits to finally break their scoring drought and make it a 6-2 game. Arrington recorded the first two outs of the sixth inning before Nicolas Notarangelo reached on a single to right center field. The Gulls were not done yet as MacDougall and Brendan O’Neil shot back-to-back RBI doubles down the left-field line.
The momentum appeared to be beginning to shift heavily towards the Gulls in the eighth inning as they loaded the bases with only one out in the inning. Arrington, who was already over 100 pitches, reared back and used everything he had left to strike out the next two batters to thwart any comeback bid.
In the ninth inning, the Hornets took advantage of a hit-by-pitch and an error to add another run to their four-run lead.
Arrington, going for his fourth complete game in his last five starts, slammed the door in the bottom of the ninth by striking out the side.
The loss marked the Gulls’ first since April 13 and only their third of the season.
I think offensively tomorrow, we're probably going to try and jump out early,” said MacDougall. “I mean, we've kind of recently been struggling in the first half of a game so I think as a team, we need to come out and try and throw the first punch ... just come out be ourselves and I think we're going to be alright; we got a shot.”
For the Hornets, they secured their consecutive win over the top-seeded team in the World Series. Their previous win came against Johns Hopkins in the 2023 Division III Championship Series.
Even with the significance of this game, both programs preached the importance of wiping the slate clean as they head into Saturday’s games. Beazley installed a “shower rule” to help his players in such moments. The rule means that once a player takes his postgame shower, it is time to forget what happened and move on to the next day.
“It was a great win today against a really good team,” said Garcia. “It's a big-time win to set us up, but we know we're not done yet. We came here five or six wins and that's just one.”