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| Brandon Garcia was 3-for-5 in the lead off spot as the Lynchburg Hornets became the first team to book a spot in the D3CS. Photo by Steve Frommell, d3photography.com | More photos from this game |
By Jim Dixon
D3baseball.com
Cedar Rapids, Iowa - It was a complete game that featured lights out pitching, timely hitting and web gems as Lynchburg finished bracket play 3-0 with a 7-1 win over East Texas Baptist on PG Cares field at Veteran's Memorial Stadium.
"Today it was the Wes Arrington show," said Lynchburg head coach Lucas Jones. "Deja vu the effort we got [Saturday]. Those are the things you need in games like this. Today we got some big knocks. We got some opportunities to get us off to a good start.
"We competed hard," said East Texas Baptist head coach Jared Hood. " We did not get anything to fall. They found some barrels and the pitcher pitched a heck of a game."
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It was the sixth inning that secured the game for the Hornets as they put up a second crooked number on the board, working through a parade of East Texas Baptist pitchers. It was the top of the order that did the damage in the sixth with the bottom of the order setting the plate for the big hitters.
The extra runs were not needed as Wes Arrington pitched the second consecutive complete game for Lynchburg. Brandon Pons did the feat on Saturday night.
"Pond showed us how to get them out and I just did what Pond did," said Lynchburg starter Arrington.
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Lynchburg greeted the Tigers he same way they did two days ago, putting up a crooked number in the first. Brandon Garcia opened the game with a single to left and scored on Ben Jones drive down the right line. Jones found home on Avery Neaves single to center. Neaves advanced on a ground out and stole third. He walked home on Eric Hiett's safety to left.
Both teams traded runs in the second. Ben Lea long drive to center could not be corralled by Carrson Atkins, giving the All -American left fielder a triple. The Hornets gave up the run for an out as Brett Warner grounded out. For Lynchburg, a walk to Atkins turned into a run on a Neaves sac fly.
From this point it was a pitching duel between the Lynchburg starter, Arrington and the East Texas Baptist reliever, Jacob Sherman with neither pitcher in finding trouble until the sixth inning.
"We got the lead," said Jones. "We were able to get some base runners the second time around on [Sherman]. It gave Wes some confidence and a bit more breathing room but he did not need it."
Lynchburg cashed in some insurance for a couple runs in the bottom of the sixth inning. Jackson Harding pushed a ball through the right side and advanced 90 feet with a sac bunt. Atkins reached on a hit to center, sending Harding to third. The top three in the order all provided RBIs as Garcia, Jones and Neaves all hit safely.
The season ends for East Texas Baptist. The Tigers end the year 42-15.