LYNCHBURG, Va. - Sophomore lefty Corey Armentrout pitched a complete-game five-hitter Thursday to lead the top-seeded Bridgewater College Eagles to a 3-1 victory over No. 6 Roanoke College in the first round of the ODAC baseball tournament at Lynchburg's City Stadium.
The Maroons took the lead in their first at bat as they nicked Armentrout for one run. Brian Kluge led off the contest with a double to right and moved to third on a ground ball. Bradley Mattox reached on an infield hit to put runners at the corners and then Kluge and Mattox pulled off a double steal with Kluge crossing the plate with the first run of the game.
Armentrout and Roanoke's Jacob McMillian then took turns putting zeroes on the scoreboard as the scored remained 1-0 until the sixth.
The Eagles missed an opportunity to put runs on the board in the fourth before finally breaking through with three runs in the sixth inning.
The Eagles loaded the bases in the fourth on a walk to Andrew Hacker, a double by Derrik Walling and a walk to Ryan Smith. With two outs, McMillian ran the count to three balls and two strikes to Zach Hynes before retiring the Bridgewater shortstop on a fly ball to left to strand three runners on the base paths.
Hynes came up in a big spot again in the sixth inning and this time delivered the clutch hit.
Hacker led off the sixth with a walk and moved to second on Darren Yoder's sacrifice bunt. Hacker took third on a wild pitch and scored on a passed ball to tie the score at 1-1.
Walling then drew a walk, ending the day for McMillian and bringing Roanoke relief ace Austin Gregory into the ballgame. Gregory walked Ryan Smith to put two runners on and Hynes followed with a two-run double to center to put the Eagles on top, 3-1.
Once given the lead, Armentrout cruised to the finish as he allowed just two hits over the final three innings of play. The Eagles southpaw improved to 6-0 on the season with his complete-game gem. He struck out nine batters and walked just one.
The Eagles offense managed just five hits against a trio of Roanoke pitchers. Christian Armstrong had two of Bridgewater's hits while Nick Fulk, Walling and Hynes added one hit apiece.
The Eagles, now 29-9 on the season, will be back in action Friday afternoon at 2:30. Bridgewater will meet the loser of the Washington and Lee vs. Shenandoah contest.