Birmingham, Ala. -- University of Lynchburg sophomore Nick Mattfield earned a win over No. 9 Washington (Mo.) Saturday afternoon.
Mattfield allowed a run in the first but settled down to retire the side with two punchouts in his first-career game.
In the bottom half of the frame, Cameron Lane got hit by a pitch and Gavin Collins walked. PJ Alvanos brought Lane home with a single then stole second.
Mattfield sat Washington down in order the next two innings. After Alvanos walked with two outs in the third, Riley O'Donovan slugged him home with his first-career home run.
Mattfield got nine more outs in a row after O'Donovan's tank. He struck out the side in the fifth and ended his day with six innings of one-run baseball. He only allowed two hits, did not walk anyone, and fanned seven. He retired the last 17 batters he faced after allowing the lone run in the first.
While Mattfield was dealing, Lynchburg broke the game open. After Lane doubled home Ryan Long, Avery Neaves brought two more runs in with a two-bagger.
Lane snagged another RBI with a sacrifice fly in the fifth, and Garret Jackson slashed Lynchburg's fourth double of the day and pushed Carrson Atkins across the plate.
Alvanos hit the fifth and final double of the afternoon an inning later scoring Neaves and putting Lynchburg up 9-1.
The Hornets banged out 11 hits in all with 22 total bases.
Travis Shumate came on in relief and pitched a clean seventh with a K.
Washington tagged Lynchburg for four in the top of the eighth, but Adam Dofflemyer got two strikeouts to end the rally.
Dofflemyer finished the job in the ninth, and Lynchburg held on for its second-straight win over a ranked opponent. The Hornets have won their first two games of the season for the first time since 2014.
The Hornets (2-0) look to carry momentum into a rematch from the NCAA South Regionals when they take on No. 7 Birmingham Southern on Sunday, Feb. 19 at 3:15 p.m.
Visit Lynchburg athletics' home online, LynchburgSports.com, anytime for up-to-the-minute news on all Hornets sports and coverage from the Lynchburg Hornets Sports Network. Click here to sign up for email and text alerts from Lynchburg athletics.
Give Lynchburg Sports a like on Facebook, and follow Lynchburg athletics on Instagram and Twitter.
--LYN--