BRIDGEWATER, Va. – For the second time in eight days, the Bridgewater baseball team put together a late inning rally to defeat Washington and Lee in ODAC action.
On a cold, blustery Thursday afternoon, the Eagles scored two in the seventh to tie the score and then added four runs in the eighth to come away with an 11-7 victory over the Generals.
A week ago in Lexington, the Eagles erased a 4-2 deficit with a five-run eighth inning and went on to take a 9-4 win over W&L.
With the victory, Bridgewater improved to 15-5 overall and 9-0 in the ODAC. W&L dropped to 12-10, 6-4 in the ODAC.
W&L wasted little time in getting on the board Thursday against BC starter Kyle Henshaw as the Generals plated one run in the top of the first. Jonathan Stutts and Will Salley opened the game with singles and Stutts moved to third on Drew Weprinsky's fielder's choice groundout. Stutts scored on a sacrifice fly by Alex Maragos to put the Generals on the board.
The Eagles tied the score in the bottom of the first with the aid of a pair of throwing errors. Nick Fulk led off with an infield single and moved to second on an errant pickoff throw. Fulk stole third and continued home when catcher Luke Deary's throw to third sailed into left field.
The Eagles took the lead with two runs in the second. Christian Armstrong and Darren Yoder drew back-to-back walks with one out, but Armstrong was picked off second for the second out of the inning. Armstrong stayed in rundown long enough for Yoder to reach second and that proved to be a big play as Fulk followed with a single to score Yoder from second. Fulk then stole second base and scored on a double by Bryan Sanderson, giving the Eagles a 3-1 lead.
That lead didn't last long as the Generals posted three runs on the board in the top of third. With one out, Stutts bunted for a hit and moved to third on a double by Salley. Weprinsky added a run-scoring single to right, making the score 3-2. Alex Maragos then belted a two-run double to left-center, giving W&L a 4-3 lead.
Bridgewater answered with a pair of runs in the bottom half of the inning to regain the lead. Jonathan Mason led off the inning with a triple and scored on a single by Andrew Hacker to tie the score at 4-4. With one out, Hacker moved into scoring position when Derrik Walling was hit by a pitch. Zach Hynes then hit a two-hopper to short. Walling was out at second but the throw to first was offline, allowing Hacker to score for a 5-4 Eagles lead.
W&L reliever Matt Hedberg silenced the Bridgewater bats for the next three innings and that allowed the Generals to take the lead with a three-run sixth.
Luke Deary was hit by a pitch to start the inning, but lefty Corey Armentrout fanned the next two hitters. With two outs Nick Biumi blooped a single to left to keep the inning alive. Both runners moved up on a wild pitch and then things got interesting. Stutts walked on a 3-2 pitch in the dirt that went all the way to the backstop for a wild pitch with Deary racking home with the tying run. The play wasn't over as catcher Ryan Smith's throw to Armentrout covering the plate was wild and Biumi raced in for another run and a 6-5 W&L lead. While this was happening Stutts was able to reach second and he scored on a single by Salley to put the Generals on top 7-5.
Bridgewater tied the score in the bottom of the seventh without getting a base hit. Fulk reached on an error to lead off the inning. After Sanderson flied out to right, Fulk swiped second and continued to third when the throw from the catcher sailed into centerfield. Mason then walked and stole second. The throw to second on Mason's teal attempt was low and bounced away from Stutts. This allowed Fulk to score, trimming the W&L lead to 7-6, and allowed Mason to move to third. Hacker then hit a sacrifice fly to left, scoring Mason with the tying run.
Tyler Slanovec came out of the BC pen to shut down the Generals in the seventh and eighth, keeping the score tied at 7-7.
Bridgewater then scored four in the bottom of the eighth to grab the lead.
Pinch-hitter Matt Maher led off the inning and reached second when his fly ball to right was dropped for a two-base error. Zach Hynes followed with a grounder to short and pinch-runner Spencer Steele broke for third and was caught in a rundown. The Generals failed to execute the rundown and Steele was safe at third when the throw got past the W&L third baseman. Pinch-hitter Cavin Clyde played Steele with a sacrifice fly to right, giving the Eagles an 8-7 lead.
The Eagles added three more runs before the inning was over. With two outs, Fulk doubled to right-center, scoring Hynes to make the score 9-7. Sanderson followed with a single to score Fulk for a 10-7 lead. Mason then singled to left-center and Sanderson scored all the way from first when the ball was misplayed in the outfield, making the score 11-7.
Tyler Conley came on to pitch and gave up a check-swing single to Phillip Anderson to start the inning. Conley retired Maragos on a fly ball before giving the ball to righthander Nick Corbin. Corbin retired Keegan Dolan on a fly ball to center and Deary on a grounder back to the mound to finish off the 11-7 victory.
Fulk and Mason each finished with three hits to lead the Eagles offense. Fulk was 3-for-5 with four runs scored, two RBIs and three stolen bases. Mason was 3-for-3 with two runs scored.
For the Generals, Salley led the way with four this. Weprinsky was 3-for-4 and Stutts was 2-for-3 with three runs scored.
Slanovec picked up the win with two stellar innings of relief work. Slanovec allowed no hits, walked one batter and struck out four.
The Eagles are back in action Saturday when they travel to Christopher Newport to meet the eighth-ranked Captains for a doubleheader.