BRIDGEWATER, Va. – Joseph Lucas pitched seven strong innings and his Bridgewater teammates gave him plenty of support at the plate with 15 hits as the Eagles defeated No.12 Shenandoah 11-2 in ODAC baseball action Wednesday afternoon.
With the victory, the Eagles improved to 14-5 overall and remained undefeated in conference play with an 8-0 record. Shenandoah dropped to 14-5, 7-4 in the ODAC.
The Eagles got on the board early with a pair of runs in the bottom of the first. Leadoff batter Nick Fulk reached on an infield error and scored on Bryan Sanderson's double to center for a quick 1-0 lead. Sanderson moved to third on a Jonathan Mason fly ball to right and scored on a single by Andrew Hacker, giving the Eagles a 2-0 lead.
Shenandoah got on the board in the third to cut the lead in half. John Wilt singled with one out and moved to third on a single to right by Corbin Lucas. Wilt scored on a groundout by J.J. McDaniel, cutting the Eagles lead to 2-1.
Bridgewater got the run back in the bottom of the inning. Sanderson singled through the right side and moved to second on a walk to Mason. Hacker then plated Sanderson with a single to left, making the score 3-1.
The Hornets nicked Lucas for another run in the fourth. Michael Paul singled with one out and Danny Freshley followed with a single to right. Paul went to third on the play and scored when the throw from the outfield to third base skipped past Hacker.
Bridgewater then broke the game open with six runs in the bottom of the fourth. Zach Hynes led off the inning with a single but was erased at second on Brandon Stein's grounder. Darren Yoder singled down the left field line with Stein stopping at second on the play. Fulk then doubled down the left field line to score pinch-runner Spencer Steele from second, making the score 4-2. After Sanderson grounded out to third, Yoder scored on a wild pitch for a 5-2 Eagles lead. Mason then belted a two-run homer over the rightfield fence to put the Eagles on top 7-2. Hacker was hit by a pitch and moved to third on a single by Ryan Smith. Derrick Walling followed with a single to left, scoring Hacker to make the score 8-2. With runners at the corners, Walling and Smith pulled off a double steal with Smith scoring on the play to put the Eagles on top 9-2.
The Eagles added their final runs in the eighth inning. Mason singled with one out and Hacker walked. Pinch-hitter Matt Maher lined a single to left to score Mason, making the score 10-2. Hynes followed the Maher hit with a run-scoring double to right-center for the final 11-2 margin.
Lucas worked seven innings and allowed the two runs on eight hits. He struck out two and walked just one. Freshmen Justin Petock and Ryan Leake worked one scoreless inning each to finish off the victory. Both allowed one hit with Petock fanning two batters and Leake striking out three.
Mason led the hit parade with a 3-for-4 day at the plate and three RBIs. Sanderson, Hacker, Smith and Hynes each finished with two hits.
Paul had three of Shenandoah's 10 hits to lead the Hornets at the plate.