MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. - Bridgewater College improved to 7-1 on the season with a doubleheader sweep Tuesday over Penn State-Harrisburg. Brady Cockerham pitched a complete game, seven-inning shutout to lead Bridgewater to a 4-0 victory in the first game and the Eagles rallied with four runs in the seventh inning to win the second game, 9-7.
Cockerham and PSU-Harrisburg's Brian Goodling traded zeroes for three innings in the opener before the Eagles, ranked No. 18 in the country by D3Baseball.com, broke through with two runs in the bottom of the fourth inning.
Austin Batten led off the inning with a walk and moved to third on a double by Ryan Leake. Brendan Howell greeted relief pitcher Cody Dakin with a two-run single, giving Bridgewater a 2-0 lead.
Bridgewater added another run in the fifth. Dustin Garst and Darren Yoder led off the frame with consecutive singles. Both runners moved up on a groundout and Garst scored on a passed ball, making the score 3-0.
Bridgewater added to its lead with a run in the sixth. Justin Petock led off the inning with a single and stole second base. Kenner Berry walked to put runners at first and second. A double steal put runners at second and third and Petock scored on a grounder by Garst for a 4-0 Eagles lead.
Cockerham allowed just six hits in his shutout win. He struck out four and did not walk a batter.
Bridgewater was limited to just five hits in the game with five different players collecting a hit. Howell led the Eagles with two RBIs and Leake's double was the only extra-base hit.
The Eagles jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead in the second game of the twinbill.
Derrik Walling led off the game with a double and raced home on a double by Leake. Howell was hit by a pitch, putting runners at first and second. Both runners moved up a base on a groundout and both scored on a double by Yoder, giving the Eagles a 3-0 lead.
Eagles starter Johnny LaVoie breezed through the first two innings, but control problems led to a three-run third for the Lions. PSU-Harrisburg loaded the bases with no outs on a walk, a hit batsman and an Eagles error. Tom Denniston walked to force in one run and Bryan Balshy doubled home two more, tying the score at 3-3.
Bridgewater regained the lead with a run in the top of the fourth. Chris King singled with one out and then raced home on a double by Cavin Clyde, giving the Eagles a 4-3 lead.
The Eagles added to the lead with a run in the fifth. Batten led off with a single and moved to second on an error. He moved to third on a groundout and then scored on a single by Berry, pushing the Eagles lead to 5-3.
The Lions took the lead with one swing of the bat in the bottom of the sixth when Cody Henry belted a three-run to give PSU-Harrisburg a 6-5. lead.
The Eagles, however, rallied with four runs in the top of the seventh.
With one out, Batten walked and Leake was hit by a pitch. Howell then singled to score Batten with the tying run. With runners at first and second, Berry doubled to give the Eagles a 7-6 lead. Pinch-hitter Jake Bailey walked to load the bases and pinch-hitter Petock followed with a two-run single, putting the Eagles up 9-6.
The Lions threatened in their final at bat against Eagles relief pitcher Matthew Young. Balshy led off with a single and with one out Tome Cheney singled. Cheney, however, was thrown out trying to stretch his hit into a double by left-fielder Walling for the second out of the inning. Josh Brubaker singled home Balshy, making the score 9-7 and prompting Eagles' head coach Curt Kendall to make another call to the bullpen. Freshman right-hander Josh Lasam took the mound for his first college appearance and struck out Mitchell Rodkey for the game's final out, preserving the Eagles' 9-7 victory.
Howell and Berry each had two hits to spark the Eagles 12-hit attack in Game 2. Tyler Dawson picked up the win on the mound with Lasam getting credit for the save. Dawson worked 3.2 innings and allowed three runs on five hits.