CARY, N.C. - Bridgewater College opened Old Dominion Athletic Conference play Sunday afternoon by splitting a baseball doubleheader with Randolph-Macon at the Team USA Baseball Complex.
The Eagles won the opener 3-2 in 12 innings on Brendan Howell's two-out single in the bottom of the 12th inning.
The victory was career win No. 700 for Eagles head coach Curt Kendall.
Senior right-hander Steven Woerner kept the Eagles in the game with seven strong innings of relief work, allowing just one run on four hits. John Woodard pitched one scoreless inning to pick up the victory.
The Yellow Jackets scored first in Game 1 with a single run in the top of the second. Michael Kroll and Rick Spiers drew back-to-back walks to lead off the frame. Christian Sanderson followed with a sacrifice bunt and was safe at first on a throwing error. Kroll scored on the error for a 1-0 Randolph-Macon lead.
Bridgewater evened the tally with a run in the bottom of the fourth. Darren Yoder doubled to right-center field with one out and scored on Cavin Clyde's two-out double to left, tying the score at a run apiece.
Randolph-Macon regained the lead in the sixth. With one out, Nick Maiolo singled and pinch-runner Devin Strickler moved to second on a wild pitch. Mitchell Keeler walked and Michael Trentham was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Travis Lodge followed with a sacrifice fly, giving the Yellow Jackets a 2-1 lead.
The Eagles scratched out a run in the bottom of the eighth to tie score. Justin Petock walked to lead off the inning and moved to second on Howell's sac bunt. With two outs, freshman Austin Batten singled up the middle to chase Petock home with the tying run.
Hunter Hensley led off the bottom of the 12th inning with a double. After Dylan Horne grounded out to third, the Yellow Jackets intentionally walked Kenner Berry. Brandon Poole struck out looking for the second out of the inning, but Howell singled through the right side to score Hensley with the winning run.
In the second game, the Yellow Jackets rallied from an early 3-0 deficit to salvage a split with an 8-6 victory. Randolph-Macon scored two runs in the top of ninth to take the win.
Bridgewater jumped out to a quick lead with three runs in the second inning. With the bases loaded and two outs, Batten stroked a two-run single to put the Eagles on the board. Ryan Leake followed with a run-scoring single, giving BC a 3-0 lead.
The Yellow Jackets scored a single run in the fifth and then took the lead with a four-run outburst in the sixth inning, making the score 5-3.
Bridgewater scored one run in the sixth on Clyde's RBI-double and then regained the lead with two runs in the seventh. Batten and Leake opened the seventh inning with consecutive singles and Batten scored on a single by Berry, tying the game at 5-5. Howell plated the go-ahead run with a single up the middle, giving the Eagles a 6-5 lead.
Macon, however, battled back to tie the score with a run in the eighth before pushing across two runs in the top of the ninth to take the 8-6 victory.
The Eagles finished the second game with 11 hits with Batten and Leake leading the way with three hits each.