BRIDGEWATER, Va. – Bridgewater College broke free from a 0-0 tie with two runs in fifth and the Eagles went on to defeat Eastern Mennonite, 8-1, Tuesday in ODAC baseball action.
Bridgewater's Kyle Henshaw pitched a strong eight innings to pick up the victory on the mound. Henshaw allowed just one run on nine hits. He struck out four and did not walk a batter. With the victory, the Bridgewater junior improved to 4-0 on the mound this season.
For the first four frames, Henshaw and EMU starter Casey Harlow took turns putting zeroes on the scoreboard.
The Royals had plenty of opportunities early against Henshaw as EMU had two runners on base in each of the first three innings, but were unable to push across a run. The Eagles also had a chance in the third against Harlow, but the EMU right-hander retired Andrew Hacker on a popup with the bases full to escape a big jam.
Bridgewater finally broke through with a pair of runs in the fifth to take the lead. With one out, Zach Hynes doubled to left-center and Nick Fulk followed with a run-scoring double for a 1-0 Eagles lead. Fulk stole third and trotted home on Bryan Sanderson's single, making the score 2-0.
Bridgewater padded its margin with four runs in the sixth. Hacker led off with a single and a one-out double by Ryan Smith put runners at second and third. The Royals elected to issue an intentional walk to Christian Armstrong to load the bases for freshman Brendan Howell. The strategy backfired when Howell lined a single to center, scoring Hacker and Smith to make the score 4-0.
Howell's hit ended the day for Harlow as the Royals went to the bullpen for lefty Ryan Henschel. The EMU reliever struck out Hynes for the second out of the inning, but Fulk came through with a two-run double to left-center, giving Bridgewater a 6-0 lead.
Henshaw lost his shutout bid in the eighth. BJ Mortimer singled with one out and Kyle Armstrong followed with a double down the left-field line, putting runners at second and third. Mortimer scored on a groundout by Zach Bowles for the Royals lone run.
The Eagles added their final runs in the bottom half of the eighth. Hynes walked and scored on a triple by Fulk, making the score 7-1. Fulk then scored on a single by Jonathan Mason for the final 8-1 margin.
Fulk, who was named the ODAC Player of the Week for his play a week ago, continued this hot-hitting with three extra-base hits in five trips to the plate. The junior outfielder scored two runs and finished with four RBIs. Sanderson, Hacker and Howell each contributed two hits to the Eagles' 12-hit attack.
Armstrong and Mortimer each had two hits to lead the EMU offense.
With the victory, Bridgewater is now 24-9 overall and 17-1 in the ODAC. EMU is 14-12, 4-13 in the ODAC.