For immediate release – 4/1/2015 – #383
Hornet Pitching Cannot Contain Bridgewater Bats in Wednesday Sweep
LYNCHBURG, VA – The Bridgewater College baseball team combined for 19 runs in Wednesday's Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) doubleheader to defeat Lynchburg College 8-7 in game one before pulling out an 11-8 victory in the nightcap.
Senior Brandon Miller had a chance to become the all-time Lynchburg wins leader Wednesday afternoon in the first game with a win. He set himself up well, pitching seven innings of six-hit ball, walking one and striking out five while surrendering four runs, three earned. Miller left the contest with a 5-4 lead, leaving the fate of the record in the hands of the bullpen.
Bridgewater took advantage of Miller being out of the game, working the bases loaded after a Darren Yoder fly out started the inning. Cavin Clyde singled, giving BC a 6-5 lead while ruining Miller's bid for history as Brendan Howell and Kenner Berry crossed the plate.
Lynchburg struck back in the bottom of the eighth as KC Caldwell led off with a single and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. Ryan Katona laced a single to center that scored Caldwell to tie the game. A single and hit-by-pitch packed the bags for LC and Joe Rogers stole the 7-6 lead back for Lynchburg on an infield single.
Yoder did the damage in the ninth for the Eagles, tripling home Derek Walling to tie the contest and later scoring on a Berry single to secure the game one win for Bridgewater.
Caldwell, back in the starting lineup for Lynchburg, went 4-for-5 with three runs scored in game one while Katona matched a career-best with three RBI.
Game two started with a fast start for Bridgewater, scoring four runs in the first inning. Lynchburg answered with four in the bottom half, capped off by a two-RBI double off the bat of Caldwell that scored Joe Tomasulo and Jonathan Munn.
The Eagles tacked on two more runs, one in the third, and two more in the fourth. In all, Bridgewater scored in five-straight innings to span the two games. Bridgewater added one more run in the sixth frame to go up 10-4. Lynchburg rallied in the bottom of the seventh to stop an Eagle run of six unanswered runs.
Lynchburg took advantage of three costly errors in the seventh to cut the gap. Drew Taylor walked before scoring on a Joe Rogers double to right field. One out later, an error that would have ended the frame with Bridgewater up 10-5 instead plated the sixth run and continued the inning for the Hornets.
A hit by pitch and walk following the error loaded the bags with two outs. One more error, this time on the first baseman, allowed Tomasulo and Luke Rodgers to score while cutting the gap to 10-8.
Lynchburg (7-16/3-6 ODAC) hosts Eastern Mennonite University (11-10/5-6) Saturday for an ODAC doubleheader starting at noon.