BRIDGEWATER, Va. – Bridgewater College bounced back from a tough conference loss Friday against Washington and Lee to sweep Saturday's Old Dominion Athletic Conference baseball doubleheader from the Guilford College Quakers.
The Eagles wiped out a 4-2 deficit in the first game with five runs in the seventh to take a 7-4 victory. Bridgewater completed the sweep behind a solid starting effort from lefty Corey Armentrout in an 8-1 win.
Guilford jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead in the opener. John Macon Smith led off the second inning with an opposite-field triple and scored on a sacrifice fly by Corey Wallace to put the Quakers on the scoreboard. The visitors added two more runs in the top of the third. Scott Schwartz singled to open the inning and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. Herc Ingels walked and Tyler Peterson following with a run-scoring single, plating Schwartz to make the score 2-0. Nathan Fulbright singled to load the bases and Smith's grounder to second scored Ingels for a 3-0 Guilford lead.
Bridgewater got on the board with a single run in the bottom of the third. Tyler Hoffman led off with a single and moved to second on Nick Fulk's sacrifice bunt. Derrik Walling singled up the middle to put runners at the corners and Bryan Sanderson followed with a sacrifice fly to left, scoring Hoffman with Bridgewater's first run.
The Quakers scratched out another run in the fifth. Peterson singled with one out and moved to second on a wild pitch. A single by Fulbright put runners at the corners and Peterson scored on Smith's sacrifice fly to give Guilford a 4-1 lead.
The Eagles added an unearned run in the sixth to make it 4-2 before a five-run outburst in the seventh gave Bridgewater the lead.
Guilford starter Borja Jones-Berasaluce cruised through the first six innings, allowing just one earned run on six hits. Things changed quickly in the seventh as a one-out double by Hoffman followed by a triple down the rightfield line by Fulk made the score 4-3 and ended the day from Jones-Berasaluce. Guilford reliever Justin Jordan walked Walling and Sanderson followed with a run-scoring single to tie the game at 4-4. With runners at the corners, Justin Petock singled to right, scoring Walling to put the Eagles ahead 5-4. The Eagles still had runners at the corners when Jordan tried to pick Petock off first base. The throw was low and bounced away from first baseman Smith. Sanderson raced home on the play, making the score 6-4. The Eagles were not finished as Petock scored all the way from first on Zach Hynes' double to the gap in right center, giving the host team a 7-4 lead.
The cushion was more than enough for Eagles relief pitcher Kyle Henshaw as he blanked the Quakers over the final two innings to finish off the 7-4 victory.
Fulk, Walling and Hoffman had two hits each to lead Bridgewater's 12-hit attack. Sanderson added two RBIs for the Eagles. Henshaw picked up the win on the mound as he worked the final three innings, allowing no runs on two hits. He struck out two and walked one.
Peterson, Fulbright and Michael Whited each had two hits for the Quakers. Jordan took the loss in relief as the lefty allowed three runs on three hits in two-thirds of an inning.
The Eagles scored in each of the first five innings to take control early in the second game.
Bridgewater got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the first against Guilford starter Drew Crawford. Fulk walked and Walling was hit by a pitch to put two runners on with no outs. Fulk moved to third on a long fly by Sanderson and scored on Petock's sacrifice fly for a 1-0 lead.
Single runs in the next two innings made the score 3-0. In the second, Hynes and Darren Yoder opened the inning with back-to-back singles. Both runners moved up a base on a passed ball and Hynes scored on a groundout by Hunter Hensley as the Eagles moved out to a 2-0 lead.
Walling led off the third inning with a single and moved to second on a wild pitch. Sanderson reached on a walk and both runners moved up on a sacrifice bunt. Walling scored on a sacrifice fly by Brendan Howell for a 3-0 Eagles lead.
The Quakers scored their lone run in the fourth. With two outs, Smith was hit by a pitch and moved around to third on a pair of wild pitches. Smith scored on an infield error, trimming the deficit to 3-1.
Bridgewater answered with a run in the bottom of the fourth and then broke the game open with three runs in the fifth.
Hynes led off the fourth with a double and moved to third on a fly ball. Hynes scored on Cavin Clyde's sacrifice fly, giving the Eagles a 4-1 lead.
With one out in the fifth, Walling lined a single to center and scored on a double by Sanderson, putting the Eagles on top 5-1. Petock singled to put runners at the corners and Howell greeted relief pitcher Lou Trosch with a two-run double to left, giving Bridgewater a comfortable 7-1 lead.
Bridgewater tacked on its final run in the eighth. Yoder led off with a single and raced around to third when the ball was misplayed in the outfield for a two-base error. Yoder trotted home on Hensley's groundout, making the score 8-1.
Armentrout stymied the Guilford offense with seven solid innings. He allowed one unearned run on six hits. The lefty struck out six batters and walked two. Dillon Via finished up, allowing no runs on just one hit in the final two innings.
Bridgewater finished Game 2 with 11 hits as Hynes, Howell and Yoder each contributed two hits. Howell had three RBIs and Hensley drove in a pair of runs.
Gabe Mirabelli was the lone Guilford player with multiple hits as he finished 2-for-3. Crawford took the loss on the mound as he worked 4.1 innings and allowed seven runs, six earned, on seven hits. He walked two with zero strikeouts.
The Eagles improved to 13-7 overall and 6-3 in the ODAC. Guilford dropped to 10-12, 4-4 in conference play.
Bridgewater will play four games in the coming week, starting with Wednesday's road trip to Winchester for an ODAC date with first-place Shenandoah. The Eagles return home for three non-conference games. Thursday the Eagles host Christopher Newport followed by a home doubleheader Saturday against Bluefield State.