HAMPDEN-SYDNEY, Va. - The Bridgewater College Eagles' winning streak continued Saturday afternoon with a pair of victories over Hampden-Sydney College in Old Dominion Athletic Conference baseball action.
Bridgewater (19-7, 10-3 in the ODAC) won the opener 9-6 in 10 innings and took the second game by a score of 9-5. The Eagles have now won eight games in a row.
In the opener, the teams traded long balls in the second inning. Justin Petock walked to lead off the second inning for the Eagles, but was erased at second on Zach Hynes' fielder's choice grounder. Bay Liskey then belted his second homer of the season for a 2-0 Bridgewater lead.
Hampden-Sydney got on the board in the home half of the second when Nathan Chamberlin hit a solo shot off Bridgewater starter Corey Armentrout to cut the lead in half.
The score remained 2-1 until the sixth when the Eagles plated four runs.Hunter Hensley led off the sixth with a base hit for the Eagles and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Nick Fulk. After Derrik Walling walked, Bryan Sanderson scored Hensley with a single, giving the Eagles a 3-1 lead. Petock then socked a three-run homer to put the Eagles on top 6-1.
The Tigers got one run back in the bottom of the inning. With two outs, Christian Hamlett walked and moved to second on Jeff Gray's single. Hamlett stole third and scored on a single by Chamberlin to cut the Eagles lead to 6-2. Lee Carneal walked to load the bases, but Armentrout avoided further damage by retiring Jack Elliott on a grounder to short, keeping the lead at 6-2.
Armentrout left after seven innings and the Eagles still on top by the 6-2 score. The Tigers, however, came to life in the eighth against Bridgewater reliever Nick Corbin and tied the score at 6-6. With two outs and one runner on, the Tigers strung together four straight hits to tie the score. Jackson Rogers delivered the key blow as his two-run double knotted the score.
The Eagles won the game in the 10th with a three-run outburst. Damian Reed walked to lead off the inning and moved to second on Hensley's sacrifice bunt. Reed scored when Fulk's grounder was misplayed for an error, giving the Eagles a 7-6 lead. Walling then greeted Tigers' relief pitcher Aaron Stidham with a two-run homer to give Bridgewater a 9-6 lead.
The Tigers threatened in the bottom of the 10th against the Eagles bullpen. Ryan Leake walked Chamberlin to start the inning and Carneal singled. Steven Woerner was summoned from the pen and retired the next two batters before walking Rogers to load the bases. Tyler Conley then entered the game and retired Spencer Wiles on a grounder back to the mound for the game's final out.
Walling led the Eagles eight-hit attack with two hits and two RBIs. Leake picked up the win in relief, pitching 1.1 innings and allowing just one hit. He walked one and struck out one.
Bridgewater took control of the second game with a five-run third inning en route to the 9-5 victory.
The hosts nicked starter Kyle Henshaw for a run in the bottom of the first. Wiles led off with a single and moved to second on a passed. He scored on a single by Hamlett for a 1-0 Tigers lead.
Bridgewater took the lead for the good with two runs in the second. With two outs, Leake and Howell drew back-to-back walks from Tigers starter Hunter Lewis. Ryan Fitzgerald chased both runners home with a double, giving the Eagles a 2-1 lead.
The Eagles sent 10 batters to the plate and tacked on five runs in the third to take a 7-1 advantage. Walling singled to lead off the inning and Sanderson followed with a RBI-double, making the score 3-1. Petock singled to put runners at the corners with one out and Leake delivered a single, scoring Sanderson to make it 4-1. Howell singled to load the bases and a single by Tyler Hoffman scored Petock from third as the margin increased to 5-1. With the bases still full, Leake raced home on Fitzgerald's sacrifice fly for a 6-1 lead. Howell scored the final run of the inning to make it 7-1 when Fulk's grounder was misplayed for an error.
Bridgewater added another run in the fifth inning. Leake led off with a double and took third on Howell's sacrifice bunt. Hoffman scored Leake with a sacrifice fly, giving the Eagles an 8-1 cushion.
The Tigers finally got to Henshaw in the seventh as three consecutive hits led to three runs. With one out, Lewis singled and scored on a double by Hamlett, making the score 8-2. Gray chased Hamlett home with a triple and Gray then scored on a passed ball to cut the margin to 8-4.
Conley came out of the bullpen for the Eagles to pitch the final two innings and allowed a ninth-inning run on Gray's RBI-triple, making the final score 8-5.
Henshaw, now 4-1, allowed four runs, just two earned, on eight hits in seven innings to pick up the victory on the mound. He struck out five batters and walked three.
Bridgewater finished the game with 10 hits. Leake was the only player with multiple hits as he finished 2-for-4 with two runs scored and one run batted in.