Bridgewater, Va.- The Bridgewater Eagles were coming off three games where they either lost or tied and looked to break that streak against the Lynchburg Hornets on Sunday, March 18. Both teams came into the doubleheader needing a win in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) to move up in the conference standings. Bridgewater was also looking to avenge its two losses against Lynchburg in the 2017 season. 

In the first game, Lynchburg came out swinging in the top of the second inning by loading the bases. They took advantage of a throwing error by freshman third basemen Kevin Navedo and scored two runs to take the 2-0 lead. They capped off the inning by scoring on a sacrifice fly to take a 3-0 lead late in the top of the second inning. 

Bridgewater answered Lynchburg’s three runs in the bottom of the third inning when freshman right fielder Jacob Grabeel hit an RBI triple to make it 3-1 at the end of the third inning. 

After senior pitcher Chad Lenz held off the Hornets in the top of the forth, junior first basemen Brett Jones narrowed the gap between the two teams with a home run to make the score 3-2. 

Lynchburg widened the gap in the top of the fifth with an RBI single by senior outfielder Brad Hylton to make it 4-2. The Hornets were tested in the bottom of the eighth when the Eagles had men on first and second with two outs in the inning. The Eagles left both men on to end the inning and eventually lose the first game 4-2. 

To start the second game, both teams could not get anything going offensively with three hits and no runs scored by either team in the first four innings. 

In the top of the fifth inning, Lynchburg looked as if they would sweep Bridgewater with a two RBI double by junior shortstop Thomas Powell to take a 2-0 lead. 

Bridgewater shut the door on a sweep with an RBI single by sophomore first basemen Luke Paczewski in the bottom of the sixth inning. The game was then tied later in the inning when sophomore pinch hitter Brett Lysohir drew a walk with the bases loaded to make it 2-2. 

The Hornets quickly responded to the Eagles’ two runs when Hylton advanced a runner home in the top of the seventh to take a 3-2 lead. 

The Eagles responded in the bottom of the eighth by loading the bases on intentional walks, a hit by pitch and a throwing error by the Hornets. The Eagles then went on a scoring spree starting with Grabeel being hit by a pitch to bring a runner home to tie the game 3-3. 

Bridgewater took their first lead of the game with a two RBI double by sophomore shortstop Jacob Talley. The Eagles capped off the inning with a run scored on a throwing error by Lynchburg to make it 6-3 going into the ninth inning. The Eagles sealed the win with a save by sophomore pitcher Tucker Garrison. 

The Eagles won their first game in the ODAC and look to continue winning in their remaining conference games in March.