HARRISONBURG, Va. - Corey Armentrout turned in another strong performance on the mound and leadoff batter Nick Fulk drove in three runs Wednesday to lead Bridgewater College to a 12-4 victory over Easter Mennonite in ODAC baseball action.
Armentrout allowed just one earned run and eight hits in eight innings of work. He struck out eight and walked just two. Nick Corbin finished up with a 1-2-3 ninth out of the bullpen for the Eagles.
Fulk led off the game with a triple and scored on a wild pitch for a quick 1-0 Eagles lead.
The Eagles added three more runs in the second. Ryan Smith singled with one out, but was out on a fielder's choice grounder for the second out of the inning. Christian Armstrong walked and Darren Yoder was hit by a pitch, loading the bases for Fulk. The Eagles junior cleared the bases with a double down the left field line, making the score 4-0.
The Royals took advantage of two Bridgewater errors in the second to tie the score. With one out, Kyle Armstrong struck out, but reached first on a throwing error by the catcher, Ryan Smith. Justin Rodriguez singled to put two runners on and a wild pitch moved the runners up to second and third. Austin Oliver struck out for the second out, but Phillip Jordan delivered a two-run single, cutting the lead to 4-2. Jordan moved to second on a passed ball and scored on a single by Adam Posey, making the score 4-3
Bridgewater struck again in the third. Andrew Hacker led off the inning with a double and Derrik Walling followed with a run-scoring single, pushing the Eagles lead to 5-3. A pair of walks loaded the sacks and Walling scored on passed ball for a 6-3 Bridgewater lead.
The score remained 6-3 until the Eagles added three more runs in the top of the seventh. Ryan Smith led off with a walk and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Zach Hynes. Armstrong followed with a single up the middle, scoring Smith to make it 7-3. Yoder then scored Armstrong with a double, making the score 8-3. Yoder came around to score on a two-out single by Bryan Sanderson, giving the Eagles a 9-3 lead.
The Royals got one run back in the bottom of the seventh, but the Eagles scored three more in the eighth to put the game away. Hacker walked to lead off the inning and scored on a triple by Walling. Walling scored on a double by Smith and a fly ball by Hynes moved Smith to third. Smith scored on a sacrifice fly by Armstrong, making the score 12-4.
Fulk led the 13-hit attack with three hits. Hacker, Walling, Smith and Armstrong each added a pair of hits for the Eagles.
Bridgewater is now 23-7 overall and 15-0 in conference play. EMU is 14-18 overall and 4-10 in the ODAC.