BRIDGEWATER, Va. – The Bridgewater baseball team remained undefeated in conference play by sweeping Saturday's doubleheader against Hampden-Sydney. The Eagles won the opener 9-5 and held off the Tigers, 7-6, in the second game.
Senior lefty Joseph Lucas turned in a solid performance in the opener with seven innings of work. Lucas allowed four runs, three earned on eight hits. He struck out three and walked one. Nick Corbin worked the final two innings, giving up one unearned run on three hits. Corbin struck out two batters.
The Tigers nicked Lucas for an unearned run in the top of the first, but the lead didn't last long. With one out, Bryan Sanderson was hit by a pitch and Jonathan Mason followed with a two-run homer, giving the Eagles a 2-1 lead.
Hampden-Sydney answered back in the top of the second with two runs. James Keller and Patrick Kuhns started the inning with back-to-back doubles to tie the score. Kuhns scored on a single by Christian Hamlett to put the Tigers on top 3-2.
The Eagles regained the lead for good with two runs in the third. With two outs Walling and Zach Hynes both walked and Christian Armstrong singled off the pitcher's glove to load the bases. Darren Yoder came through with a clutch hit as he singled up the middle to drive home two runs, giving the Eagles a 4-3 lead.
Bridgewater manufactured a run in the fourth to add to its lead. Sanderson bunted for a single and stole second, He moved to third on a Mason groundout and then scored on a groundout by Andrew Hacker for a 5-3 Eagles lead.
The Tigers scored in the fifth on a run-scoring single by Nathan Chamberlin, but the Eagles got that run back in the bottom of the sixth. Sanderson and Mason walked and both moved up on a groundout to second by Hacker. Sanderson scored on Ryan Smith's sacrifice fly, giving the Eagles a 6-4 lead.
Bridgewater added some huge insurance runs with three in the seventh. Hynes was hit by a pitch and Armstrong followed with a sacrifice bunt. Hynes scored all the way from first when the throw was wide of first and rolled into the right field bullpen. Armstrong ended up at third on the play and scored on a single by Yoder, making the score 8-5. Yoder was caught stealing, but Nick Fulk doubled to left and then moved to third on a wild pitch. Fulk scored on a sacrifice fly by Sanderson for a 9-4 Eagles lead.
Fulk, Sanderson, Armstrong and Yoder finished with two hits each and Yoder drove home three runs.
The Eagles received another solid start on the mound in the second game as Robert Gallet worked into the eighth. He pitched 7.1 innings and allowed seven hits and five runs. Three of the runs were earned. He struck out five and walked three.
Bridgewater took the lead in the second game with three runs in the third inning. With one out, Sanderson singled and Mason walked. Hacker followed with a double down the left field line, scoring Sanderson for a 1-0 lead. Mason scored on a groundout by Derrik Walling and Hacker scored on a double by Hynes, giving the Eagles a 3-0 lead.
The Tigers took advantage of a pair of infield errors to score two runs in the fifth, but the Eagles tacked on three runs in the bottom of the sixth to lead 6-2.
Bridgewater took advantage of an error with two outs to score three times. With Walling on first and two outs, Hensley tried to bunt his way on and was safe at first when pitcher Luke Rabiej misplayed the bunt for an error. Yoder chased both runners home with a triple into the right field corner and Fulk followed with a run-scoring single to give the Eagles a 6-2 lead.
Hampden-Sydney fought back with two runs in the top of the seventh on Jeff Gray's two-run single to center, but the Eagles got one run back in the bottom of the frame. With one out Hacker walked and moved to second on Walling's single to center. Hacker scored on Armstrong's single to left, making the score 7-4.
Beau Flinchum led off the eighth with a double and, after Chamberlin flied out, the Eagles went to the pen for lefty Corey Armentrout. Jack Elliott greeted Armentrout with a single that scored Flinchum to cut the lead to 7-5. Armentrout fanned Kuhns for the second out of the inning, but a walk to John Lloyd kept the inning alive. Hamlett then doubled down the left field line to score pinch-runner Kyle Lung, making it a one-run game. With runners at second and third, Armentrout retired Hunter Lewis on a grounder to first, preserving the Eagles 7-6 lead.
Armentrout retired the Tigers in order in the ninth, sandwiching a pair if strikeouts around a fly to right, to earn the save in Bridgewater's 7-6 victory.
Sanderson was the only Bridgewater player with more than one hit in the second game as he finished 2-for-5. Yoder drove home two runs and finished the twinbill with five RBIs.
The Eagles are now 12-0 in the ODAC and 19-7 overall. Hampden-Sydney drops to the .500 mark at 15-15-1 overall and 7-7 in the ODAC.