BRIDGEWATER, Va. -- The Bridgewater College baseball team dropped its season opener to N.C. Wesleyan on Friday afternoon 18-10.

THE BASICS
Final Score: N.C. Wesleyan 18, Bridgewater 10
Records: Bridgewater 0-1, N.C. Wesleyan 1-0

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Battling Bishops opened the contest by putting two runs on the scoreboard to take a 2-0 lead after the first three outs. BC responded with a pair of walks to start the inning and Hunter Clever cleared the base paths with a two RBI knock to tie the game. After a Collin Reid walk, Brandan Hartman came to the plate and pushed Clever across with a RBI double to put Bridgewater in front 3-2.
• NCWU quickly took the lead back with two swings of the bat and three runs crossing the plate for a 5-3 advantage. Brett Tharp drew a walk to get o the base paths with one gone in the inning and Jeffrey Snider brought him home as the switch hitter sent a ball over the right field wall for a two-run home run. Later in the inning Clever reached on an error and for the second consecutive inning Hartman drove him in to give Bridgewater the lead 6-5.
• The Battling Bishops pulled away with a five-run third inning highlighted by a two-run dinger from Jackson Hobbs. Dylan Cheeley took back to the mound and was able to keep the Bridgewater offense somewhat in check for four solid innings after taking over midway through the second inning.
• Trailing 17-7 in the bottom of the sixth, the BC offense came alive. Reid got aboard with a one-out single and Hartman joined him after being tagged by a pitch. Kyle Carlson hit into a fielder's choice to move Reid over to third and put himself on first with two gone. Jonathan Sexton connected on a pitch and took it for a deep double to clear the base paths and end Cheeley's day on the mound. Sexton eventually got to third after an error and later scored on a balk by Cullen Davis to make it a 17-10 game.
• Despite the balk, Davis had an effective 2.1 innings of work to close out the contest. Evan Gagne came in for BC late and was able to silence the Battling Bishops except for another two-run blast from Hobbs.

MATCH FACTS

• Hobbs ended the day with eight RBI and three home runs to go along with six runs scored. In total, Hobbs accounted for 11 of the 17 NCWU runs scored.
• Cheeley picked up the win after hurling 4.0 complete innings of work along with four punchouts. Davis fanned six Eagles in 2.1 innings of relief, including striking out five straight batters.
• Bowe Rogers was saddled with the loss for BC giving up three earned runs in 1.0 inning of work out of the bullpen.
• Snider, Clever, Sexton and Hartman all recorded two RBI in the loss. Sexton turned in a 2-for-2 effort at the dish and totaled three walks.
• The Eagles saw action from seven different pitchers on the afternoon. Gagne recorded a team-high three punchouts and Mitchell Vedder also added a pair.

UP NEXT

The Eagles return to action tomorrow in the second game of a two-game set with NCWU. First pitch is set for 12 p.m.