For immediate release - 4/26/2014 - #341
Late Rally Falls Short as Hornets Drop 4-3 Decision to Eagles
LYNCHBURG, VA – The No. 5 seed Lynchburg College baseball team rallied in the late innings against the No. 2 seed, Bridgewater College, but fell short in the ninth inning to drop a 4-3 decision on day two of the Old Dominion Athletic Conference baseball tournament.
The win advances Bridgewater in the winner's bracket where they will face No. 1 seed Shenandoah University Saturday at noon.
Bridgewater challenged the Hornets early, forcing Zac Patrick to throw 43 pitches in the first inning. Patrick managed to escape the jam with just one run crossing the plate, but the Hornets could not capitalize in the middle innings.
Lynchburg stranded a runner on third base in the second and third innings, while leaving men on the corners in the fourth and fifth frames. In total, Lynchburg stranded 15 men on base.
Trailing 2-0, Lynchburg got on the board in the seventh inning as Drew Taylor led off with a double before crossing the plate on a two-bagger by Dustin Arrowood that banged off the wall.
Bridgewater struck for two more runs in the bottom half of the inning as a costly error on a grounder hit by Bryan Sanderson put runners on the corners. A groundout by Justin Petock and Zach Hynes single up the middle resulted in the two unearned tallies charged to Patrick.
Patrick (4-2) went 6 2/3 innings while allowing four runs (two earned) on nine hits and two walks. The senior matched a career high with seven strikeouts.
Jordan Showalter got the first two outs quickly in the top of the eighth to pull the Eagles within four outs of a 4-1 victory. Drew Taylor poked a ball to right field and Lincoln Evans singled through the right side to put two on for the Hornets. A walk to Joe Rogers loaded the bases for Rob Tomasulo.
The first team All-ODAC catcher grounded a ball sharply in the hole to second. Sanderson dove for the ball, pinning it to the field as Taylor raced home. As Sanderson got to his feet with his back to the infield, Evans took off for home, crossing the plate to cut the deficit to one run.
Looking for a second big hit in as many days, Pat Harris came off the bench as a pinch hitter to lead off the ninth. The junior singled down the right field line, but Robert Gallet worked around the single for his second save of the season.
Evans and Tomasulo had three hits each for the Hornets while the latter drove in a pair of runs. Taylor scored twice for Lynchburg.
Nick Fulk went 3-for-3 for Bridgewater (28-11) as Petock and Hynes had two RBI each. Eagle starter Corey Armentrout (5-3) struck out a season-high nine batters in 6 2/3 innings.
Lynchburg will take on the No. 2 seed Randolph-Macon College (23-14) Saturday at 3 p.m. The Hornets came back from a 1-0 deficit to down the Yellow Jackets 3-1 on the first day of the tournament. The winner of that game will play again at 7 p.m.