Lynchburg, Va. -- After 32 wins and a regular-season title, University of Lynchburg baseball took another step in the right direction towards repeating as Old Dominion Athletic Conference champions.
The sixth-ranked and first-seeded Hornets beat Eastern Mennonite 18-0 Sunday afternoon in the first game of their ODAC Tournament series.
Nick Mattfield got the nod as Lynchburg's Game 1 starter after a stellar sophomore season with an 8-0 record and 55 strikeouts. He carried his regular-season success into the postseason with the longest outing of his career. He pitched eight shutout innings, only allowed three hits, and walked one. Mattfield is the eighth pitcher in program history to reach nine wins and is two away from tying Matt Gouker's mark from 2005.
While Mattfield silenced EMU's bats all afternoon long, the Hornets totaled their third-most runs of the season and most in an ODAC Tournament game since at least 2003. Lynchburg jumped on Eastern Mennonite's starter for three in the first. Two runs came off the bat of Avery Neaves as he smashed his league-leading 14th homer of the season deep to center field.
The Hornets got four more in the second capped off by an RBI double from PJ Alvanos. The senior also walked twice in the game and holds the program's record for career walks at 93.
Mattfield faced the minimum over the next five innings and induced two double plays.
In the sixth, the Hornets hung a seven spot beginning with a two-RBI single from Carrson Atkins. Logan Webster also drove in two with a triple, and Alvanos hit Lynchburg's 28th sacrifice fly of the season. Gavin Collins stung the third two-RBI hit of the inning with his fifth dinger of the season.
Riley O'Donovan, who has been serving as Mattfield's personal catcher during the year, hit a three-run bomb in the eighth. Cameron Lane put the finishing touches on the game with an RBI single. The senior leadoff hitter is tied for second on the team with a .407 batting average and second in on-base percentage at .551.
Tommy Preston fanned a pair of batters to wrap up the game, and the Hornets are a win away from moving on to the championship weekend in High Point, N.C.
The Hornets (33-8) take on Eastern Mennonite again Monday, May 9 at 12 p.m. The "if" game is scheduled for 30 minutes after the conclusion of Game 2 if EMU wins.
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--LYN--